Birds of Prey
by The Silent Scream
Summary: The Pack is back, and this time, they are asking the Scoobies for help as they are threatened by another group of shapeshifters. After Willow and Pat promise their help, they not only have to fight along their Pack friends, but also have to find out the reason for the ongoing war and put an end to it. Willow/OC est. relationship, rating for violence and a few F-Bombs.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Since my friend Emerald Demona asked so nicely, I'm posting the first chapter of the new story now instead of on Monday. Enjoy ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except for the OCs, I guess...

* * *

><p><span>Birds of Prey<span>

"You know, Anya won't be happy if she hears about that", Pat smirked as she carefully stepped over a root, not wanting to end up embarrassing herself by stumbling and ending up flat on her face; a few steps ahead, Willow shrugged, her gaze focused on the forest ground, not even coming up when she replied.

"Then I'll have to trust you not to tell her", she gave back, bending down moments later and removing a bunch of green leaves from a bush, adding them to the various other plants and berries she already had collected, "because I won't, I know she won't like it…"

"Neither will I", the demon reassured her, watching how she picked yet another plant; thanks to her disinterest in all things concerning magic and spells before she had met her partner, most of them looked the same to her, and she only recognized a few of them, namely those she had seen the witch use in her various spells before.

"Thanks", the redhead smirked, briefly looking at her; the taller woman grinned back at her, then ended up tripping over a root after all thanks to briefly not paying attention where she going, managing to keep herself from falling the last second and cursing under her breath once she could be sure she wouldn't end up on the ground.

"Careful there", Willow told her, holding back giggling since she didn't want to laugh at her partner's little accident, "I didn't talk you into coming here with me so you can trip and break a leg."

"And if I do break a leg, nothing in the world will convince me to do that ever again", the taller woman smirked, making the witch giggle after all now; just as she opened her mouth to reply though, voices came up not too far away, startling them both as they called out for someone named "Jimmy", the couple exchanging a look before they started to move into the direction of the men and women calling out.

It didn't take long until they found at least two of the people they had heard yelling, two young men who kept calling out for Jimmy until they spotted them, one of them sounding slightly surprised when he asked them if they were part of the search party, as well, prompting them to exchange another look before they both declined.

"Search party for whom?" Willow then wanted to know, one of the two men glancing around to make sure they wouldn't lose sight of the other party members while the other one explained, glancing around the whole time, as well, showing that he was taking his task quite seriously.

"A five year old", he let the couple know, "he went to play at the forest's edge this morning and vanished. We formed a search party and are looking for him now, you're more than welcome to help if you want to, these woods are kinda big and we can need every extra pair of eyes…"

The moment he said the last word, he realized that perhaps, it hadn't been the most tactful thing to say in the presence of a one-eyed woman, his realization confirmed by the way she raised an eyebrow at him, and he flushed, looking as if he wanted to be swallowed by the earth on the spot.

"Oh my gosh", he mumbled, scuffing at the earth with one sneaker, "I mean… I didn't mean to… oh I'm sorry…"

"Dude", his friend admonished, shaking his head, "how often have I told you, think before you talk."

"It's okay", Pat finally decided that he had squirmed and stuttered enough, "it happens more often than one would think, really, despite the lack of a complete set of eyes in my case being quite obvious."

She almost expected them to ask why she wasn't using a glass eye, then, a question which came surprisingly often even from people she just had met; this time though, it didn't come up, both men too focused on their search to worry about why she might not want to use a fake eye.

"We'd be happy to help", Willow brought the talk back to said search, earning grateful looks from both young men, "just tell us where we should search."

"You should ask Randolph", the taller of the two gave back, gesturing vaguely south, "he's the one who organized the search, he'll tell you where you should go so you won't end up too close or too far to the rest of the party."

"Alright", the witch gave back, then grasped her partner's hand and together, they headed off into the direction the men had pointed out to them; they ran into a few more search party members until they found the guy who had organized the whole thing, and he was more than happy to hear that the couple was willing to help with the search.

"We formed a chain of people, walking in pairs", he explained, "from west to east. You can choose if you want to be at the southern or the northern end, the southern is closer to here, so it'd make sense for you to go there. Make sure you always can see the pair next to you, and give little Jimmy time to answer in between your calls for him, it'd be a shame if he was yelling back and no one would hear him because we all yell all the time."

"Alright", Willow nodded, "we'll keep that in mind… anything else we should know?"

"Not for now, no", Randolph shook his head, "some of the other party members have walkie-talkies, but we didn't have enough for the whole group, if we have to continue the search tomorrow, we'll have more, but we all hope it won't come to that."

"Hopefully, yeah", Pat replied tactfully, even though she had been in Sunnydale long enough now to fear that either it would come to that – or that they would find the little boy dead, the last thing she wanted to happen, but a possibility they had to face.

"I know what you're thinking", Willow told her the moment they were out of earshot, "but maybe we'll be lucky for once, and the poor kid just got lost…"

"Yeah, maybe", the demon gave back, letting out a small sigh; trying her best to be the optimistic one about the situation, the witch smiled at her, briefly touching her hand before she raised her voice and called out for Jimmy, to her dismay not surprised when no reply came.

_Well, what did you expect? _she asked herself, hearing the other searchers call out for the missing boy, _that you just yell once and he pops up? That would have been a miracle, they've been searching for hours._

"Jimmy!" Pat now called out next to her, listening closely as well afterwards; again, no reply came though, both of them waiting until the people close to them had called out as well before they did so once more.

The only response they kept getting were the soft cries of the birds up in the sky, and the other noises of the forest all around them; holding back a sigh, asking herself if this was a waste of time, Pat dug out her cigarettes and lit one of them up, nodding immediately when Willow gave her a strict look and reminded her of the fact that forest was very flammable and that she had to take the cigarette butt along instead of just dropping it somewhere.

"You'd ban me to the couch if I set the forest on fire", she then told the smaller woman, smirking, "so I won't risk—"

A shockingly loud growl from her right and the sounds of something big crashing through the woods interrupted her, and they both froze in mid-step, exchanging a look as the various demons and other supernatural creatures they knew about came up in their mind, trying to remember if any of them were active during the day and close to such big groups of people.

"What was that?" Willow whispered when the sounds of something big moving through the woods suddenly stopped; before Pat could reply though, a bird shrieked again, surprisingly close this time – before both women went wide-eyed as they saw one of the birds they had spotted circling the skies earlier came rushing down, and they realized how big it was, shocked to see that it easily rivalled the height of the redhead, the impressive wingspan of almost four meters making them both wonder how it could actually fly in the forest without crashing into trees.

"Holy shit", Pat breathed, watching how the bird descended a few feet away, shrieking again, "have you ever seen…?"

"No", Willow gave back, unable to take her eyes off the bird – until it vanished in the foliage not too far away, loud growls and whines following moments later, accompanied by the unmistakable noises of fighting.

Without missing a beat, Pat started to move, to the witch's surprise and worry – after all, if two demons of whatever kind were having a fight there, it wouldn't be smart to get involved, and from the sound of it, no human was part of the battle. On the other hand though, she had to admit that it might be smarter to try taking them both down while they were busy with each other before one of them might win and get the idea to attack one of the members of the search party.

Thus, she followed her partner after a moment, hoping that no one else had noticed anything about the commotion; so far, it seemed no one had, since she could still hear the people call out for Jimmy, even though the fighting noises were almost drowning out their yells.

For a moment, Willow was impressed by how fast and securely her partner was moving now, all worries about tripping and falling gone; she had slight troubles with keeping up, her own reflexes and body control not able to compete with the decades of training the taller woman had had during her previous line of work, making sure to stay close enough though so she wouldn't lose sight of her, worried about what they might find once they'd reach the two fighting creatures.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for the couple to come upon the fighters, both of them surprised to see that it was an unnaturally large wolf, fighting the bird they had seen moments ago; now that they could get a closer look, they realized that the bird's body was constantly shifting, parts of it becoming human before they were covered by feathers again or sprouted talons, the legs quite thin and spindly while the arms and upper body were, in stark contrast, bulky and muscular.

_Of course, _Willow realized, her mind as always supplying information, even in such strange situations, _they'd need a strong chest and arms to fly… What the Hell is this thing?_

Making sure to stay behind her partner, she raised her hands, ready to fire a spell the moment one of the creatures would start focusing on them; and the blink of an eye later, the huge wolf did just that, the spell dying on her lips though as her eyes met his and she saw the relief in them, realized how familiar they were.

Shrieking, the bird turned its head and glared at her, then at Pat; she had a moment to worry if maybe, it had been a mistake to not fire the spell at the wolf when the bird took off moments later and vanished into the sky – and then the wolf sat down and looked up at the demon and her, its tongue hanging out while it, to make the whole situation more absurd, started wagging its tail.

"…that's not your ex, is it", Pat finally broke the silence which had formed at the sight, almost making Willow giggle before she regained her self-control and shook her head, giving her an amused look afterwards.

"No", she then verbally declined as well, "werewolves don't look like actual wolves. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, of course", the demon gave back, eying the wolf warily and taking a step back when it rose to all fours again, "that just was the first thing which came to my mind…"

As if it was responding to her, the wolf let out a snort, almost sounding amused – before the bulky body started to change, the fur retreating until it became human skin, the rest of the body following suit, both Willow and Pat letting out unarticulated noises of surprise when they recognized the man the beast was changing into half a minute later.

"Derek!" Willow was the first one to call out his name, not even fully noticing that said man was naked as he came to his feet and looked at them with a happy smile, "what the… Oh my God, you're naked!"

"As always after they change", Pat commented dryly, already taking off her jacket and holding it out to the man, "dude, what are you doing here?"

"Came here to find you", Derek gave back, putting on the jacket, grimacing as blood dripped from deep gashes in his leg, caused by the talons of the bird, "the Pack needs your help…"

"Blunt as ever", the demon shook her head, making Willow smile slightly, "not even a hello, even though you're standing naked in the woods, wearing nothing but my jacket. In a forest filled with people, by the way, so we better get you out of here before anyone spots you and calls the police."

"Forgive me", Derek muttered in reply, at least having the decency to look slightly ashamed, even though both Willow and Pat knew him well enough to figure that he wasn't uncomfortable at all with his nakedness, "you know how we are. But you are right, of course, let's go…"

"The search", the witch realized in reply, giving her partner an uneasy look, "we can't just leave now, we said we'd help…"

"Search", Derek questioned before Pat could reply anything, "what search? Did a member of your pack… group… get lost?"

"No", the demon gave back, glancing around as she hoped no one would walk up to them now as they stood there talking to a mostly naked stranger instead of searching for Jimmy, "a boy, from town. He got lost in those woods."

"Oh", the young man gave back, now looking around as well, as if he was expecting to spot the kid any moment, "well, lucky for you, you got a wolf in your company now. You don't happen to have anything of his, right?"

"No", Willow was the one to answer that, "unfortunately not… And we can hardly go and ask the others, they'd probably think it's weird…"

"Well, I could try finding his scent without anything", Derek let them know, to their surprise, prompting them both to wonder how good his sense of smell actually was, "but it might be difficult with so many people around."

"Try it", Pat told him after thinking about this for a moment, "the faster we find him, the faster we can listen to your troubles and see what we can do about them."

Nodding, Derek took off her jacket and handed it back to her, then dropped down on all fours; curious, both the witch and the demon watched him closely, since this was the first time they saw him shift shape in full control, still remembering well how wild and untamed he had been when he had shifted in front of them for the first time, under the magical influence of a shard which had caused loss of control for several other shifters of his pack.

He let out a low grunt as fur sprouted from his skin; unlike when Pat transformed, the hair on his head didn't simply lengthen and turn into fur, but the fine hairs all over his body did so, his mouth and nose lengthening, then melding together to form a snout while his ears slid up on his head and became pointed, his grunting turning into low growls while his hands and feet turned into paws and a tail formed where his spine had started to lengthen.

The whole process took less than a minute, but still looked quite painful; and by the time Derek stopped growling, a large and shaggy black wolf stood in his place, looking up at the couple and wagging his tail.

"I get the feeling he wants a biscuit", Pat commented, to her amusement earning a low snort and a glare from the wolf; and then, he lowered his nose to the ground and sniffed audibly, giving the two just a moment to ask themselves if he'd catch the scent – before he started moving, glancing back at them impatiently when they didn't follow him at once.

"We're coming", Willow told him as they caught up to him; he let out a huff, then went on hurrying through the woods, keeping his nose to the ground, the witch and the demon close behind him, both of them hoping they wouldn't run into any other members of the search party, knowing that they would have a hard time explaining what was going on.

In the distance, they could hear said people calling out for the little boy tirelessly, all of them as eager to find him as the two of them were; luckily though, they all seemed to be quite a distance away, making sure no one would run into the three of them and see the newest members of their search party follow a large and shaggy wolf through the forest.

"Jimmy!" Willow now called out again as well, more for the other people to hear her than for the little boy to do so; next to her, Pat snorted when Derek flinched visibly in reply, then gave her an annoyed look, prompting her to shrug helplessly, a low huff coming from the wolf before he focused on his search again, sniffing audibly as he moved through the woods.

He kept doing so for a few more minutes, the couple following closely behind him, calling out for Jimmy every now and then; by now, the voices of the other search party members weren't audible anymore, making it clear how far away from them Derek had led them, something they might have been worried about if they didn't trust the shapeshifter, but after their adventure with his pack and him in the past, they had no such doubts, merely feeling glad that now, at least the danger of anyone seeing them and forcing them to explain was gone.

And then, Derek suddenly froze, sniffing loudly a few more times, then starting to growl in the back of his throat; worried, Willow and Pat exchanged a look, briefly wishing that he'd be capable of talk in his wolf form, then the demon moved up to him and went down on one knee next to him, keeping her voice low when she asked if he smelled something unpleasant.

"Vampire?" she went on after he had confirmed it with a low huff, the wolf shaking his head in response, prompting her to make another guess and ask him if he was smelling a demon, then.

"One who's not me", she added after a moment, earning yet another huff and an annoyed look which practically screamed "Seriously?"; curious now, she glanced up ahead, trying to see anything which might work as a demon's hideout, still keeping her voice low when she spoke up again.

"I can't see anything up ahead, but that doesn't mean much", she murmured, addressing her partner now, "so we better be—"

Before she could finish her sentence and tell her partner that they'd better be careful, a loud snapping noise echoed through the wood, briefly reminding her of a whip's sound; and then, a thick, dark green length of twine shot past her, a startled cry coming from Willow as it wrapped around her throat, then jerked her off her feet, pulling her towards the tree it had originated from with shocking strength and speed.

"What the…!" Pat cried out, startled, as her lover was pulled past her, struggling wildly against the vine holding her; and then, she regained her senses and, with a daring dive, shot forward and past the witch, grabbing the twine, gritting her teeth as she gave her best to tear it apart, pain flashing up in her palms as the rough material tore over the skin.

With a loud bark, Derek finally got over his shock as well and rushed forward, sharp teeth closing over the twine seconds later and biting it in two; choking and gasping for breath, the witch slumped to the ground, clutching at her throat while the vine fell off her, barely registering that her partner was by her side moments later and helped her sit up, still staring into the foliage all around them as she tried to figure out which tree the attack had originated from.

"What the Hell", she swore under her breath while she made sure Willow was okay, the redhead still coughing, but regaining some of her colour, "one can't even go into the woods here without some fucking demon attacking!"

"Language", Willow wheezed, rubbing her throat where the vine had left a bright red mark, "did you see where…?"

"No", the demon grumbled, still glaring at the various trees all around them, "it's really blending in well, I have no idea where it is…"

The whiplash sound came again before the smaller woman had a chance to reply, yet another vine aimed for her partner this time; thanks to her fast reflexes, Pat managed to jerk back before it could wrap around her, the pointy end of the vine leaving a bright red gash across her cheek as it connected, blood dripping from the wound moments later and prompting the demon to growl angrily, a similar sound coming from Derek moments later.

"Please tell me you won't go all blood-lusty on us now", Willow told him, relieved when he merely huffed again in reply, then directed their attention to one of the trees by staring intently at it; coming to her feet again, the black haired woman wished for weapons as she focused on said tree as well, not surprised when a face formed in the gnarly trunk, glaring at them from brightly green eyes.

"Dammit, I can't even burn it", she muttered, more to herself than to her companions, "I might set the whole forest on fire…"

"Indeed", Willow agreed, now coming to her feet again as well, "let me see if I can do anything about that thing…"

Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, trying to figure out how to hurt this strange demon without endangering Pat or Derek, and the forest all around them; before she could come up with something though, a small voice cried out from the very top of the tree, sounding so scared that it made her heart clench up. "Mommy? Daddy? Is that you?"

"Guess we know now what happened to little Jimmy", Pat commented next to her, making her nod; and then, the spell she could use came to her mind, and she quickly brought up her hands and mumbled the words under her breath, calling to her Goddess for her aid, the demon watching how brightly glowing white energy formed around her hands, then streamed from her fingers and towards the tree, engulfing it and making it twitch and tremble.

"Hecate, work thy will", the black haired woman heard her mumble, looking from her to the tree demon and back again, "make him be calm and still…"

The energy pulsed brighter around the tree for a few moments, a strangely sounding cry coming from it, as if someone was rubbing two pieces of wood against each other; and then the tree froze as the white glow sunk into it, the bright green glow in its eyes at first dimming, then vanishing.

"Alright", the redhead breathed, lowering her hands again, "I don't know how long this will hold, so we better get the kid out of there quick…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know", Pat sighed, already moving to the tree, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth and showing that her words weren't as serious as they might have sounded, "let the one with no depth perception climb the bigass tree demon, just because she's a demon."

"And strong, and not a wolf", Willow added, giggling; the demon took a moment to let the smirk show, then started climbing, the redhead and Derek watching from the base of the trunk, glad that they had found the little boy before any serious harm could've been done to him.


	3. Chapter 3

"They found him!" an overjoyed male voice cried out as the man it belonged to spotted Willow with Jimmy clinging to her, Pat right next to her, and Derek staying away from the group, not wanting to get spotted in wolf form, "guys! They found him!"

All around, cries of relief and joy came up as the news spread through the search party, all of the members hurrying to catch up with the two; and it didn't take long until the parents of the child had reached them, as well, the father gently taking Jimmy out of the witch's arms while his mother thanked her over and over, making her quite uncomfortable.

"It was just luck, really", she finally said, hoping that Jimmy would remember what she had told him on the way back to the others, namely that he simply had gotten lost and that the tree had not been alive at all, that he had imagined this because of how scared he had been, only for her hopes to be shattered a second later as the boy spoke up, looking at her with something close to hero worship in his gaze.

"The evil tree grabbed me", he told his father, prompting him to raise an eyebrow, "but then the nice redheaded lady put some light in it and it went to sleep, and then the one-eyed lady climbed up and saved me."

"Jimmy!" his mother scolded at once, mortified, giving Pat an apologetic look, briefly relieved to see that the taller woman was smirking, "you can't say such things!"

"Well, he's right about the one-eyed thing", the demon shrugged, "but not so sure what he means about the tree and the light."

"Must be the shock", another member of the search party threw in, even though he seemed a bit uneasy, making them wonder if he was one of those who'd had been forced to deal with Sunnydale's darker side before; both father and mother of the little boy nodded, then thanked them all for their help, the whole group reassuring them that it had been no problem.

"We better go and find Derek", Willow mumbled to her partner once the group started to split up as they all went back home, "and find out what he needs from us."

Nodding her agreement, the taller woman took another look at the leaving people, slightly amused by the fact that none of them had bothered to ask how both Willow and she had ended up with light injuries, when they supposedly just had been walking through the woods searching for the boy, all of them once again displaying the selective perception thing all citizens of Sunnydale were so good at, commenting about just that to her girlfriend and earning a slight giggle in reply.

"Good point", the witch then agreed, knowing that there still was a bright red line around her throat where the vine had choked her – perhaps the cut in her partner's face could be explained away by carelessness and a wayward tree branch, but an obvious choke mark should be harder to ignore, and still the townspeople had done just that quite well.

"And we better find a quiet route back home", Willow added after a moment of thought, "because no matter which form Derek chooses, if we walk through the streets of Sunnydale with a huge shaggy wolf or a naked man, it'll attract attention."

"Yeah", the black haired woman agreed, already looking around in an attempt to spot their currently four-legged friend, "maybe we should call Giles or Xander and ask them to pick us up, they might want to know what's going on, anyway."

Figuring that this was a smart idea, the redhead dug out her phone in response, quickly calling Giles; she explained what had happened, not failing to mention the strange giant bird they had encountered and the tree demon she had put to sleep, the Brit promising her that he'd be waiting at the dirt road leading into the forest and that he'd leave to pick them up immediately.

"Thanks", the witch gave back, then ended the call and told her partner what they had agreed upon; and half a minute later, they found Derek waiting for them in a small clearing, still in his wolf form, wagging his tail happily when he spotted the couple.

"Giles will come by with his car to pick us up", Willow explained as she fought the urge to kneel down next to him and scratch him behind the ears, not sure if it would have been appropriate, "so it's up to you how you would prefer to ride in his car, I'm sure he won't mind if you get in there naked."

Pat wasn't so sure about that, but decided not to comment on it; and since Derek, instead of changing back, merely came to his feet and looked at them questioningly, it didn't matter much anyway, the young man clearly preferring to stay in his furry form until they'd be at a safe place where he could change back, with only people who knew about the process around.

"Let's hope you won't shed on the seats", the demon smirked as they started walking through the forest yet again, back to the road this time, "or Giles might get cranky. He's really fussy about the car ever since it got repaired."

"It had to be repaired because we crashed it", Willow helpfully added, figuring that she didn't need to tell him any details about how exactly the car had been crashed, namely that she had been evil at that time and had made Pat crash the car by choking her from behind – they might be considered friends of the pack by the young man, but that still didn't mean that he had to know about such troubling times in their lives.

To her relief, Pat clearly thought the same, since she just nodded her agreement, but didn't give any further details; instead, she dug out her cigarettes and lit one of them up, earning a disapproving look from Derek and letting out a small sigh as she moved to the other side of the group so the smoke wouldn't drift into his direction.

"Let's hope Giles won't take too long", Willow broke the silence which had formed after a while of walking, "and I didn't even get all the herbs I wanted. Why is it that we can't even go into the woods without some kind of drama happening?"

"Because we live in Sunnydale", Pat shrugged, smirking slightly, "drama is part of life here. At least we found the kid alive, I don't want to imagine what that tree demon thing might have done to him if we hadn't found him."

"Probably would have eaten him", the witch mumbled, momentarily astounded again about the fact that, even during what had been supposed to be a simple walk through the forest, they had run into a demon and she had been forced to use her magic to defeat it, something she usually reserved for going on patrol and fighting the various evils tormenting the town in regular intervals.

Finally, they made it to the dirt road, feeling slightly dismayed when Giles wasn't there yet; feeling lazy, Pat sat down on the nearest fallen tree, prompting Willow to do the same next to her a moment later, while Derek moved to sit in front of them, his tongue hanging out as he wagged his tail happily again – and then made the witch giggle by bending his head and bumping it against her hand, until she got the hint and scratched him behind the ears, earning a satisfied huff from the wolf.

"Apparently, it is appropriate to scratch a shapeshifter behind the ears when in animal form", Willow pondered out loud, smiling at her partner, "I was wondering about that just a few minutes ago."

"I'm sure though not everyone is allowed to do that", the demon pointed out, earning an immediate nod from Derek; and just then, the sound of an engine came up in the distance, Giles' car soon rounding the corner and stopping close to them, the Watcher getting out of the vehicle a few moments later and giving them a curious look.

"One can't leave the two of you alone", he then told them, watching how they rose from their seats, "even during a simple walk in the forest, you attract trouble."

"Can't deny that", Willow had to agree, already moving to the car with Pat and Derek in tow, "but we'll explain later, when the rest of the gang is around, they'll surely want to hear this, too."

"Alright then", Giles agreed, already moving to the driver's side of the vehicle, "let's all get into the car then and I'll drive you to my house. The wolf won't rip up my seats, will he?"

"He won't", Willow reassured him, taking the passenger seat while Pat and Derek got into the back; the Watcher gave the wolf another curious look, then started the engine and drove off, to his home, barely able to wait for hearing what all of this was about.


	4. Chapter 4

"Usually, the Pack doesn't ask for help from outsiders, as you surely noticed during the first encounter we had", Derek started his explanation a while later, after the rest of the gang had been called and had assembled almost fully; since Dawn was at school and Xander at work, they weren't there, but the rest of them had come, even Anya, who had closed down the shop so she could attend.

To the disappointment of both Buffy and her, the young man was dressed by the time they arrived at Giles' house, having borrowed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the Watcher; the jeans were a tight fit, and the shirt even more so, the fabric straining over his well-defined muscles even when he sat still and looking as if it was close to tearing whenever he moved, at least giving the two girls a little something to look at.

"It has become unavoidable now though", Derek want on, either not noticing how Buffy and Anya were eating the eyecandy or not caring, "and since three of you are Friends of the Pack, it was decided that we would seek out your help. If you are willing to help us, that is."

"Let me guess", Pat gave back, raising an eyebrow, "it has something to do with the overgrown chicken you fought in the forest."

"Yes", Derek agreed at once, not surprising any of them, even though those who hadn't seen the bird were wondering what exactly the demon had meant with "overgrown chicken", "but you shouldn't call them that to their face, they don't like it."

"They obviously also don't like you", Willow pointed out, "why was this bird attacking you?"

"I'm not even sure", Derek grumbled in reply, a bit of his wolf coming through as there was a distinct growl in his voice, "we never had dealings with them before, until they suddenly, one day, started attacking us at our home. They won't speak to us when we try to find out what we did, they'll just attack, and we lost three members of our Pack already… Which is why we figured we might need help from the outside. Someone they'll talk to, because clearly, they're not willing to speak to us."

"What makes you think they'll talk to us?" Buffy wanted to know, frowning, "they might just attack us, as well."

"They might", Derek admitted reluctantly, "but we don't know that for sure. In fact, we don't know much at all about them, but we are running out of options, and getting killed off one by one… We need to put a stop to this, and you guys were so helpful during that whole mess with Valeriana. Not to mention that you were Alpha of our Pack for a short while, Pat."

"Yeah, for like half a day", Pat pointed out, "and I didn't do anything… Alpha-ish during that time. Also, I had no idea killing that bitch would make me Alpha. But I see your point, if these chi—birds won't talk to any of you, just kill you instead, you'll need some help to maybe restrain one and make them talk. The one you fought in the woods, did he follow you?"

"Yes", the young man sighed, "we weren't sure he would, but had to take the risk… it was lucky you guys found us before he might have done some serious damage to me, they are really fast and strong."

"Of course they are", Pat sighed, "cause we never get to fight anything weak and helpless. Like bunnies."

"Eugh", Anya let out, shuddering and reminding them all of her phobia of said animals; Derek, who was the only one who didn't know about it, gave her a confused look, but clearly decided not to ask, just shrugging his shoulders instead and making the fabric of the shirt strain dangerously once more.

"So you want us to talk to these birds", Willow recapped, "find out why they are after you, and hopefully make them stop."

"In a nutshell, yes", Derek confirmed, "do you think you can help us with that? I know you are reluctant to leave Sunnydale, what with all the evil going on here, but I'd need to take you to our home…"

"You two should go", Buffy decided, looking pointedly at the couple, "you've had the most contact to those shapeshifters, and I can't leave for too long, patrol and everything…"

"Oh, road trip", the demon gleefully replied to that, making the blonde smirk, "nice. It's been a while since we got out of Sunnydale, anyway."

"So you'll help us?" Derek wanted them to clarify, looking so absurdly relieved and happy that it endeared him to all of them forever, "really? Thank you so much, the Powers know that we can need a powerful witch and a demon to help us deal with them…"

"Let's see what we'll be able to do", Willow tried to tone down his enthusiasm a bit, "you know there's a chance they won't listen to us either… Giles, any idea on what exactly they are?"

"Several, in fact", the Brit replied, "there are many myths and legends about the kind of bird you described. You said the bird was changing shape even as you looked at him?"

"Yes, constantly", Pat was the one to confirm that, "it was quite the sight actually, I mean, I change pretty fast, but I couldn't do what this birdy was doing. It looked as if he was shifting all the time, constantly, a body part here, from feathers to skin and back again there…"

"They are exceptionally good at shifting", Derek confirmed, "when they attacked us the first time, they shifted their feet from talon to human just seconds before they landed. That's like one of us shifting from wolf to human in mid-leap, we can't do that."

Nodding, as if he had expected something like this, Giles got up from his seat and moved to one of his bookshelves, pulling one of the older and quite ancient looking volumes out and leafing through it, quickly finding what he had been looking for.

"Here", he said, turning the book so they could look at the drawing, "is this the bird you've seen?"

"Yes", all three confirmed in perfect unison, and he nodded yet again, snapping the book shut and looking at them over the rim of his glasses.

"They're called _Donnervögel_", he let them know, earning frowns at the weird name for the birds, only Willow recognizing it as German, "so far, I believed that they are merely a legend, or that they're extinct."

"We thought that, too", Derek nodded, making them all look at him again, "apparently, this is how they wanted it, until they attacked us, for whatever reason."

"It's strange that you have no idea what they might be attacking you for", Giles commented, raising an eyebrow at the young man, "because, according to this book, they prefer solitude and peace, only attacking in retaliation to someone going after them first. And since usually, they live quite secluded, this hardly ever happens."

"Well, we didn't attack them first", Derek gave back, frowning, "why should we? We had no business with them before they started coming after us. We didn't even know they lived close to us!"

"We'll figure it out", Buffy tried to reassure him, "well, Will and Pat will. Right guys?"

"Right", the witch agreed, giving the young man a smile, "we'll come up with a plan to capture one of them and then find out what is going on."

Nodding, Derek gave them a thankful look, then asked if they had to get anything from their home before they'd leave for the home of the shapeshifters; it quickly was decided that they'd get some clothes and weapons from their home, Buffy letting them know that she'd accompany them part of the way, until she'd have to go another way to reach her home.

"Take care", Giles told the couple as they made their way to the front door, "we don't know much about these birds, and who knows how they might react to any help they see our shapeshifting friends get."

"Probably pissed", Pat shrugged, following Buffy outside, with Willow right behind her and Derek behind the redhead, "but that has never stopped us, right?"

"Right", Buffy agreed, "but you guys take care anyway, and don't forget—"

She never got to say what they shouldn't forget, a high-pitched shriek from above interrupting her – and then the bird came rushing down, wings flapping and creating a breeze strong enough to blow her hair back, a startled cry escaping her as the Donnervogel's talons dug into her shoulders, drawing blood, another yell coming from her when the bird flapped his shockingly big wings and lifted her off the ground.

"Buffy!" the blonde heard Willow cry out, then felt strong hands close around her ankles as Pat made a grab for her; she had a second to hope that the demon would be strong enough to get her out of the grip, then the bird flapped his wings again and the taller woman lost her hold, cursing as all she could do was watch how the bird took Buffy higher and higher.

"He's going to drop her", Derek brought out behind them, in an oddly strangled voice, "this is what they did to some of us, they grab them and fly up and then they…"

"A spell, I need a spell", Willow fretted, running both hands through her hair as her mind was drawing a dreadful blank, while the bird carried Buffy higher and higher, "Giles! There must be something!"

"I, I don't know", the Watcher gave back, unable to take his gaze off the blonde, her screams by now sounding quite faint, but still loud enough to have attracted a number of people, surprised exclamations coming from them as the saw what was going on, "something to soften the ground perhaps, or…"

"Goddess", the redhead started in reply, figuring that this was the best idea they had, since her mind was still refusing to give up any spells useful for such a situation, "hear my call, um, work thy will to soften her fall…"

As if in response to her words, the bird let out another shriek high in the sky – and then the talons opened and Buffy was falling, her screams going louder again as she rushed towards the ground, mixing with the shocked cries her friends were letting out before she slammed onto the sidewalk.


	5. Chapter 5

"No! Buffy!" Willow was the first one to break the shocked silence the sight had forced upon them, already starting to move; and a second later, Pat and Derek did the same, the three of them running over to where Buffy had smashed down onto the ground, a puddle of blood slowly forming around her motionless body.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" they heard one of the bystanders yell, another one digging out her phone in response; ignoring them all, the redhead dropped down to her knees next to the Slayer, not even noticing that her best friend's blood started soaking her pants as she frantically said her name over and over, trying to get a reaction from her.

"She's not dead, is she", Derek demanded to know, wringing his hands, "please tell me she's not dead!"

"She's not", Pat was the one to do just that, having gone into a crouch next to the unconscious blonde as well, cursing the fact that what had happened had drawn so much attention on them, knowing she couldn't do the spell which would heal her friend with so many people watching the scene; next to her, Willow gave her a brief glance, the same knowledge showing through her worried gaze, the sound of sirens coming up in the distance only confirming that there was no way for them to do any magic now, especially not the flashy magic with fire and instantly mending wounds of the healing spell.

"How bad is it?" Giles was the first to ask what they all wanted to know, "can you tell how…"

He trailed off as he reached the small group and got a good look at the blonde, his eyes briefly going wide as he took in the unnatural bends in her left arm and leg, showing where the bones had been broken when she had smashed onto the sidewalk, blood staining her clothes and her hair.

"The ambulance", Derek pointed out said vehicle as it came speeding down the street, "thank God, they'll help her, right?"

"Yes", Willow gave back, coming to her feet again, only now noticing the blood which was drying on her pants, the sight only another reminder of her failure and of what she had caused with it; she swallowed heavily and took a step back from her best friend's lifeless form, right into the arms of her partner, who pulled her into an embrace immediately, by now knowing her well enough to be perfectly aware of what she was thinking.

"What happened here?" one of the ambulance men demanded to know before the demon could come up with anything reassuring to say, putting them all into a rather awkward position as the explanation would make them look like lunatics; before any of them could reply though, one of the bystanders did just that, his words making the ambulance men look at him oddly. "A bird carried her up high and then dropped her!"

"…right", one of them gave back after a moment, doing the suppression thing many citizens of Sunnydale were so good at, "we better get her to the hospital, make room please so we can do our job…"

Immediately, the small grouped moved back, then watched how the men knelt down next to the still out cold Slayer and started their work; and even though it wasn't pleasant to hear and see how they checked her and spoke of how likely internal injuries were, Willow found herself unable to look away, her mind caught in a loop as she told herself again and again that this was her fault, that she had failed when it had been critical for her to succeed, that she had let Buffy down when she had needed her.

Finally, the paramedics had gotten done with the primary care and, after carefully moving Buffy from the sidewalk onto the stretcher they had lowered to the ground next to her, loaded her into the ambulance; and while one of them stayed by her side to monitor her, the other asked her friends if any of them was family and wanted to accompany her to the hospital.

"I'm not family, none of us is", Giles was the one to answer that, "her sister is currently at school, we need to notify her…"

"You ride along with them", Pat gave back, still having both arms around Willow, the redhead now staring at the back of the ambulance, where Buffy laid on the stretcher motionless, "we'll call Dawn, and meet you at the hospital."

Glad that at least one of them was capable of remaining calm enough to make such decisions, Giles nodded, then briefly and questioningly glanced at the paramedic, not sure if he actually could ride with them, seeing that he was a mere friend and not family; the paramedic just nodded as well in reply, and quickly, the Watcher got into the car while Pat already dug out her cell phone.

"Taxi first", she let the others know, "then I'll call Dawn."

Making sure to keep one arm around Willow, feeling how tense the witch was against her, the demon quickly dialled the number of the taxi service they used whenever they had need for someone to drive them anywhere; and while she was talking to the dispatcher, her partner stood close to her perfectly still, her gaze fixed on the puddle of blood which was drying on the sidewalk, her mind's eye replaying again and again how Buffy had fallen, the Slayer's screams still echoing in her ear, cut off by the low thud with which she had smashed onto the ground.

"Taxi's gonna be here in ten minutes", Pat's voice distracted her from those horrid memories, already scrolling through her contacts for the high school's phone number, "now let's hope the school won't make trouble or ask too many questions…"

To her relief, there apparently had been something in her voice when she spoke to the administrator taking the call that had been enough to make it clear that it was a serious situation, even though she hadn't given too many details; and just a few minutes after she had asked to speak to Dawn, due to a family emergency concerning her sister, the teenager was on the line, sounding worried when she asked what was going on.

"Buffy's hurt", the demon explained in reply, now giving her best to sound kind and reassuring, not wanting to upset the young girl more than necessary, "they're taking her to the hospital as we speak, we'll follow them there once the taxi arrives, meet us there?"

"Yes, of course", Dawn gave back at once, "how bad is it? She'll be okay, right?"

"I'm sure she will be", the taller woman reassured her, skilfully ignoring the question about how bad the blonde had been hurt, "we'll give you the details at the hospital, once the doctors got done with her…"

"Alright", the teenager agreed, to her relief not questioning her further, "I'll leave right away, see you in a few…"

"Take care", Pat told her in reply, then ended the call, putting the phone back into her pocket before she focused on her partner again, the fact that Derek and Anya were still there, as well, watching them, forgotten as she pulled the witch closer once more and held her, keeping her voice low so only she could hear her when she mumbled into her ear. "You know it's not your fault."

To her dismay, Willow didn't reply anything, but just let her hold her, her slow and deep breaths telling the black haired woman that she was fighting hard to keep her composure; in an attempt to help her with that, she rubbed her back soothingly, mentally already strangling the bird for what the creature had done to their friend and the state this had put the witch in – after all, they just had managed to rescue her from the clutches of a psychotic stalker mere weeks ago, and now that she was on the road of recovery from that incident, her best friend had ended up badly hurt due to the magic just not coming when it had been needed.

"She'll be okay", Pat said the only thing which came to her mind, feeling the smaller woman tremble briefly in her embrace, "you know she'll be okay, she's got the Slayer bonus and everything. Maybe we can even pull off another healing in the hospital, wouldn't be the first time."

This time, Willow at least acknowledged her words by nodding slightly, still not saying a word though; and since she had ran out of things to say as well, Pat just kept holding her close, trying to give her the comfort she so obviously needed until, finally, the taxi arrived and took them to the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

Neither during the ride to the hospital, nor during the time they had waited there for the doctor to join them and tell them how Buffy was doing, Willow had said a word, eerily reminding the others of how her partner had acted whenever she had been the one in the hospital; just like Pat had done each time, the redhead just sat there, staring at the linoleum floor between her feet, leaving the demon to wonder if she even felt her tender touch, the taller woman's hand resting on her lower back in a helpless attempt to comfort her.

Next to her, Dawn wasn't all too talkative either; once she had met the rest of the group at the hospital, Giles and Pat had told her what had happened, with some extra information about the Donnervogel from Derek, and now, the teenager fidgeted on her seat every now and then as she waited to be told about her sister's state, her fingers playing nervously with the hem of her shirt.

"The Slayer healing will help, right?", she broke the silence after a few more minutes had ticked by, making Giles and Pat look at her while Willow kept looking at the floor, "I mean, that's why she has it, right?"

"Yes", Giles confirmed, to her obvious relief, "it will aid her recovery, make her heal faster…"

"Or we'll just sneak in at night and do the spell", Pat threw in, noticing how Willow tensed at the mention of magic, but still not saying anything, "it might gain some unwanted attention, but we've done it before."

Again, Giles agreed, nodding while Dawn looked relieved, giving the demon a grateful glance; the taller woman briefly smiled back at her, then her gaze focused on Willow again, her concern resurfacing as she asked herself what she could do to take her lover's obvious pain away.

"Willow?" she tried to gain her attention, not really surprised when it didn't work; momentarily, she felt horribly helpless, cursing the fact that, even after years of being in a relationship, she still wasn't much good with such situations, then told herself to focus and that surely, she could handle that after all the stuff they had gone through already, moving her free hand to grasp her partner's, this time at least getting a bit of a reaction when she heard Willow take in a watery breath in response to her touch.

"I know what you're thinking", she mumbled into the smaller woman's ear, not caring if anyone else of the small group heard her, "but it's not your fault."

"I should have come up with _something_", Willow gave back after a moment, her voice trembling and sounding as if she was on the verge of tears, the demon telling herself though that this was still better than the shell-shocked silence the redhead had been caught up in until now, "what good is all this power I have if I can't use it when I really have to? I could have saved her…"

"You had seconds to come up with something", the taller woman reminded her of how little time there had been between the bird snatching Buffy and dropping her, "and we all know magic isn't just some sort of wave-your-hand-and-there-we-go-thing, not even for someone as powerful as you. I might as well blame myself for not trying to catch her when that damned bird dropped her."

"That would have not only injured her, but you, as well", Willow pointed out, prompting the demon to shrug, then to squeeze her hand tenderly, her voice down to a low rumble when she replied. "Perhaps, but what I meant to say is that what happened is as little your fault as it is mine, or Derek's, or Anya's. The only one to blame is that damned bird, and no one else, and we'll make him pay for what he did to her."

"If I had known this would happen, I never would have asked for your help", Derek sighed, giving them a dismayed look, "apparently, only talking to anyone for help is enough to make them attack…"

"The friend of their enemy is their enemy", Anya nodded, making them all glance at her, "in a way, this makes sense. So when they saw you talk to us, and ask for our help…"

"Pat is right, though", Giles decided to join the discussion as well, "it's not your fault, Willow. You are powerful, and one of the best casters I know, but under the circumstances…"

"I still wish I could have come up with something", Willow sighed in reply, prompting her lover to squeeze her hand once more; glancing up at the taller woman, she gave her a weak smile, then leaned into her embrace, in the need for close physical contact, a desire which only grew when moments later, one of the doors in the hallway opened and a doctor stepped outside, glancing around before his gaze settled on the group.

"You are the friends of Miss Summers, I take it", he stated as he approached them, stopping in front of them, his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, "who of you is her sister?"

"I am", Dawn gave back, not rising from her chair though, "but they are all family, so they can all hear what you have to say."

For a moment, the doctor looked a bit taken aback, as if he hadn't been planning anything else anyway; then, he clearly shrugged it off, giving her a slight smile before he spoke up again, the group listening with growing concern as he listed the injuries the Slayer had taken during the fall.

"Stories about how this happened aside", the doctor started, all eyes focused on him, "Miss Summers is in a serious, but stable condition now. Since she landed on her left side after the… fall, her left arm and leg are broken in several places, along with most of the ribs on that side, and there's been internal injuries and bleeding, not to mention a rather severe concussion and a cracked skull. As I said though, we stabilized her, and after some time to recover, she should be as good as new. We can't rule out any permanent damage for sure, but if the bones heal up properly…"

"Cracked skull, oh my God", Dawn repeated while Pat felt Willow tremble in her embrace again, tightening her hold on her in response, "did she injure her brain…?"

"She's still unconscious, so we couldn't test if she responds normally to being spoken to", the doctor explained in reply, "tests of pupil dilation showed though that it works normally, so we are almost sure that there was no lasting brain damage."

"Thank God", Dawn sighed, "let's hope you are right then… Can I see her?"

"Of course", the doctor nodded at once, then glancing at the rest of the group, "but I hope the rest will understand that, in Miss Summers' current condition, we can only admit family members to her room."

A chorus of mumbled agreements came up in reply to that, and he gave them all another brief smile; then, he asked Dawn to follow him and led her off while the rest made themselves comfortable again, Willow now staring at the floor between her feet again while Pat held her close, looking at her in concern, trying to find the right words which would take all the pain and guilt away.

* * *

><p>"So that's the plan", Pat recapped several hours later, after they had all left the hospital and had assembled in Giles' house once more, this time with Xander among them, the young man shocked to hear what had happened while he had been at work, "we go to our place, collect the stuff we need, then we stop at the hospital, heal Buffy, and then we go to your home, Derek, and help you deal with those birds."<p>

"Fine with me", Derek agreed, "I would feel really bad if she'd have to stay in that hospital for weeks just because I asked you guys for help…"

"We're lucky that bird didn't attack us again on the way back", Anya pointed out, "do you think it left?"

"Probably not", Pat was the one to answer that, "maybe he went back home to report that he took one of us out, or he thinks that he scared us off with his attack on Buffy."

"He didn't, right?" Derek wanted to know, looking worried as he glanced at the demon, then at the witch; Willow was still much quieter than usual, staying close to her partner at all times, holding one of her hands now while the other played with a trinket she had found on Giles' living room desk.

"No", the demon gave back, then the redhead spoke up next to her, making them all look at her, concern on all their faces at the dejected sound of her voice and the words she was saying. "I'm not scared off, and I'll come along. I'm not sure I'll be much help though, you saw how I failed today…"

"Willow", Giles started, then Pat gave him a look which silenced him, her gaze focusing on her lover again moments later as she asked the rest to excuse them for a moment.

While they still were voicing their agreement, the taller woman was already getting up from her seat, and Willow did the same, even though she wasn't sure what to expect now; still, she didn't protest as Pat led her outside, the black haired woman waiting until the front door had fallen close behind them before she dug out her cigarettes and lit one of them up, then focused on her girlfriend again, her expression and voice kind when she spoke up after another moment of silence during which she had sorted her thoughts.

"Remember when that nightmare demon was around and made all nightmares come true?" she asked, to Willow's surprise; nodding, the redhead had a moment to wonder why she was bringing this up now, then the demon was already speaking on, giving her the reason before she could ask.

"I know exactly how you feel", Pat let her know, "because I felt the same when that creature made me stab you during that one fight. I kept telling myself that there should have been something for me to do, react faster, realize what was going on before it happened. And Buffy told me that it happened too fast to let me react in time, and by now, I know it's true."

She interrupted herself by taking a long drag of her cigarette, then stepped closer to her, making sure she wouldn't accidentally burn the smaller woman with her cancer stick while she took one of Willow's hands into her free one, making sure to keep holding her gaze as she went on, eager to get her point across.

"I know it's true that there was no chance in Hell I could react in time", she repeated, as if this couldn't be said often enough, "and technically, all I had to do was stop stabbing in time. And when that bird snatched Buffy and dropped her, just stopping to stab wouldn't have been enough, as Giles said, magic takes time, even for a skilled caster such as you. We all know you would have saved her if it had been possible, but it wasn't, not this time, and going there, into this battle, with all that guilt… Not a smart move."

"I know", Willow finally had the chance to say something as well, giving her partner a dismayed look, "feeling all insecure and bad about this might affect my magic when I have to use it again, but… Pat, I've felt so helpless during that whole mess with Walker, never knowing where he was while he was watching me, and then I even ended up kidnapped by him… And now, with that bird attacking Buffy… I don't know, maybe part of me felt that it would be a chance to show I'm not helpless, and I failed…"

"You messed up once", Pat shrugged, squeezing her hand tenderly, "and in a situation in which anyone else would have, too. It happens, people make mistakes, and in that special case, there wasn't much you could have done. But don't let that make you forget all the other times it was your magic that saved the world."

"Part of me knows you're right", Willow replied with a sigh, moving closer to her and smiling slightly when she felt the taller woman hug her with one arm at once, "but I still keep asking myself over and over if there wasn't something I could have done… A spell to make sure she doesn't get hurt…"

"I did the same", the demon reassured her at once, rubbing her back soothingly yet again, "I do every time I mess up and someone ends up hurt because of it. Especially if it's you. It's perfectly normal, but you can't let it cloud your judgement when we go with Derek to take care of those birds."

"I'll try", Willow sighed as an answer, and this was enough for the taller woman; she smiled and nodded, then kissed her tenderly, the feeling of her warm lips on hers helping to take a bit more of her anxiety and feelings of uselessness away.

"Never doubt yourself", Pat mumbled into her ear afterwards, her breath almost a caress on her cheek, "you're amazing, and you know it. All the things you've seen, and done, and fought… Most people would wet themselves when attacked by a vampire, and you went up against the Devil and a thousand other horrible things and won. You're strong, so don't let this one incident tear you down."

"Working on it", the witch let her know, smiling slightly, a bit more honest than before; and to her relief, this apparently was enough for Pat, since the taller woman just nodded again, briefly patting her back before she bent down for another kiss, not pulling back from the embrace yet, having one more thing to say before being willing to go back inside.

"Not to mention that I can't do this without you", she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper now, "all the good things I did since we started being together, I did for you. So if you give up because of one mistake, so will I. I can't do this without you."

"That's sweet and a bit scary at the same time", Willow gave back, still smiling though to show her words weren't fully serious, "but thank you… I feel better about all of this now."

"Glad to hear", the demon smirked, kissing her for a third time afterwards, "cause Sunnydale would be screwed without the two of us."

"Thank you", the witch almost sighed as an answer, tightening her embrace around the taller woman slightly, "I really needed to hear all that… and I couldn't do any of this without you, either. I love you…"

"I love you, too", Pat reassured her at once, words which came a bit easier to her now than they had at the start of the relationship, making her smile widen; then, the couple shared one more tender kiss before the taller woman finally finished her cigarette and they went back inside, all of the group members assembled there glad to see that Willow obviously was feeling much better about the whole situation.


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe you walked all the way to Sunnydale", Pat commented several hours later, now in a car and on the road with Derek and her partner; in the backseat, the young man shrugged, looking decidedly unhappy as he glanced at her, his expression visible to both Willow in the passenger seat and her through the rear view mirror.

"We don't like cars", he explained, shifting on the seat uncomfortably, "they make us feel… enclosed. If we need to go fast, we go on all fours."

"But you're not all wolves, are you", Willow wanted to know, frowning, turning in the seat so she could properly look at him, "so what do those who are not do when they need to be fast?"

"They don't often need to", Derek shrugged, "we usually don't leave our territories except for the hunt, and that is mostly done by the wolves."

"Makes sense", the witch had to admit, leaning back into the seat comfortably again and smiling when immediately, Pat reached over and placed one hand on her upper thigh; briefly, she flashed back to how a deranged stalker had touched her similarly in almost the same spot, then pushed those thoughts aside, telling herself that Walker was safely behind bars and wouldn't be able to do her any more harm.

"Thank God it's not too far", the young man sighed, looking out the window again, "I really don't like cars."

"Well, I could go faster, but you told me not to", Pat reminded him of the restrictions he had placed on her, "you said it'd make you puke."

"And it would", Derek nodded empathically, "so thanks for sticking to the speed limit. Now, I need a distraction. Hey, I'm glad the healing worked on Buffy."

"So are we", Willow let him know with a smile, amused by how fast he had changed the topic; they had been a bit worried when they had snuck into the hospital, not sure how to explain their presence there in case someone should catch them, but thanks to two centuries of assassin skills from Pat and the fine nose of Derek, they had managed to avoid the few doctors and nurses doing the nightshift, and had made it to Buffy's room undetected.

There, they had found the Slayer awake and aware, to their great relief; they briefly had explained what they wanted to do, and after Buffy had, not surprisingly, agreed, the spell had been performed and all her wounds and broken bones had healed; since they didn't want to freak the hospital personnel out too much, they had left a note advising them to talk to Dr Henderson, a doctor who knew about them and their abilities, and then had snuck Buffy out, taking her home in Xander's car before they'd left town and had gotten on the way to the shapeshifter territory.

"The town will need a Slayer, especially if we're not there to pick up the slack", Pat added, keeping her eye on the road; if there weren't too many other cars around, her lack of depth perception didn't worry her, but still she figured that it was better to be safe than sorry, remembering well how her last attempts at driving had ended, the car crash which had been the conclusion of the last ride she had taken in a car being the reason why Giles had refused to borrow them his car and they had taken Xander's,

"Stop that", Derek told her in a strict voice, momentarily even forgetting his dismay about being in a car, "I feel bad enough about Buffy getting hurt, you don't need to make it worse by reminding me of the fact that you won't be around to help, should anything drastic come up."

"You asked for our help, and we agreed to give it", Willow gave back, turning in the seat yet again to look at him, "so don't do that. It's not your fault that the bird attacked and if we'd been busy with anything drastic, as you put it, we would've had to decline anyway."

"I know", Derek sighed, "but if I had known that they would attack you guys so fast, just because you talked to me… I'm not sure I would have asked."

"Stop worrying", the demon was the one to answer that, almost reaching for her cigarettes, then remembering that the young man had asked her not to smoke in the car, with the explanation that the smoke was horrible for his sensitive nose and instead put her hand back on Willow's leg, "we'll be fine. Even if we do mess up and end up getting hurt, I can heal, Willow can borrow my healing, and in case all else fails, you guys got those nifty tanks, right?"

"Yes", Derek had to agree, "even though when I left, there's just been one left empty, the others were occupied. These birds are so vicious and quick…"

"We'll figure something out", Pat promised him in reply, impressing him with her confidence, especially after she had seen what the birds were capable of doing, "Willow brought enough magic supplies to create the magical equivalent of a nuke, and if that doesn't help, I'll fry the shit out of them."

"Language", Willow admonished automatically, earning a low snort from her partner while Derek smirked, still remembering well how often he had heard her say that during the short stay of his Pack and him in Sunnydale; obviously though, it hadn't helped, since the taller woman's mouth was still as dirty as it had been, and he highly doubted that this ever would change.

"So", the redhead went on after a moment, "anything we should keep in mind for our stay with you guys?"

"Not really", Derek shrugged, focusing on her while the demon kept her gaze on the road, "just don't be surprised whenever someone walks around naked, we are pretty much used to this, thanks to our shifting. Also, if someone challenges you or tries to mess with you, it'll probably be a try to assert their status in the Pack, but I'm pretty sure they'll leave you alone, they all know you're Friends of the Pack and not exactly part of our ranks."

"Not to forget that we're there to help", Pat pointed out, "so they better be nice to us."

"I'll keep them in line", Derek promised, making her nod after a moment; then, silence settled over the car as they kept driving, the demon keeping her focus on the road while Willow looked out the window and Derek gave his best to ignore the fact that he was in a car, already looking forward to getting out of the vehicle and joining his pack again, hoping with all his heart that no more attacks on them had happened while he had been gone.

* * *

><p>The shapeshifter village was everything Willow had imagined it to be, a small collection of houses in the middle of the forest; she looked around in amazement, reminded of documentaries she had seen about religious sects living in the middle of nowhere, the people who were out and about looking back at her with the same curiousness, prompting her to remember that not all of the Pack had been in Sunnydale when they first had met.<p>

"Willow! Pat!", a familiar voice now called out, and while she still was turning, Alexia was already upon her, hugging her quite fiercely, the redhead a bit stunned as she returned the embrace; Alexia gave her another squeeze, then moved around the car to give Pat the same treatment, making them both feel instantly welcome at the small community.

"We're so glad you agreed to help", Alexia gushed, beaming up at the taller woman, "these birds are a real pain in the ass!"

"So those are the outsiders you brought here, Derek", a deep male voice boomed before Pat or Willow had the chance to reply anything; curious, the demon turned to look at the one who had spoken, nearly taking a step back when she found herself facing a wide chest, unable to keep the surprise off her face as she glanced up and up and up until her gaze finally fell on the face of the giant man, said face halfway hidden behind a tangled mass of brown beard.

"Gregor", Derek scolded, shaking his head, "don't be like that, you know we spoke about this and agreed to get help."

Letting out a huff in reply, the giant man crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down on the black haired woman; stunned by his height, all Willow could do was stare while Pat held the glare bravely, either not intimidated by his size or not letting it show if she was, even though he clearly stood more than seven feet tall, towering over her.

"Don't mind him", Derek told the couple, giving him another strict look and prompting him to let out another huff before he turned and walked away, the two women almost expecting the ground to tremble, "he was the one who was most against getting help from any outsiders, as he calls anyone who's not Pack."

"Easy for him", Pat smirked in response, "seeing how freaking huge he is, the birds won't be able to carry him off."

"Good point", Derek agreed with a laugh, moving to the trunk and opening it so he could get out the bags the couple had packed for their stay with the Pack, handing them over to the two, "if he annoys you again, just tell me and I'll put him in his place. He's not a wolf, but I'm still leader of the Pack here in this village, so as long as he's here, he'll have to heed me. Now, Alexia has volunteered a place in her home for the two of you, so if you'd follow me there, you can get settled down and relax a bit before we meet to discuss how to proceed."

"Fine with us", Willow agreed after exchanging a brief look with her partner; smiling, Derek asked them to follow him, then, and led them through the small village until they reached a comfortable looking, small house, Alexia bouncing along next to them the whole time and chattering about how excited and happy she was that they would be staying with her.

"I borrowed a twin bed from a friend", she let them know, beaming at them happily, "so you can share it like you do in your home. Also, I bought coffee even though we don't drink it, I know you guys like it, and Pat, if you like, you can smoke in your room, but please open the window whenever you do so, the smell makes me sneeze."

"Thank you", Willow finally managed to get in a few words, since Alexia had to pause at last to take a breath, "that's very kind of you."

"I'm just glad you guys agreed to help", Alexia smiled in reply, "I know there are some here who think it's a bad idea to bring any outsiders here, but obviously, we can't handle those birds on our own, so we had to get help."

"We'll do our best", Willow reassured her, stepping into the house as Alexia was holding the door open for her, "I just hope we can be helpful, it's the first time we're facing these birds, as well. We've never even heard of them until Derek came to us and one of them hurt Buffy."

"Oh no!" Alexia cried out in reply, giving her a shocked look, "Buffy got hurt? I hope it's not too bad?!"

"It was quite bad", Pat gave back, following her into the guestroom which had been readied for them and dropping her suitcase on the ground there, "but we healed her, so she's all fine again."

"Thank God", Alexia sighed, "I'd feel really bad if she got dreadfully hurt because of us and our trouble with those birds…"

"She's okay", Willow reassured her, smiling, "we did a nifty little spell and it all healed again. You can ask Derek for the details, he was there."

"I definitely will", Alexia nodded, then told them to get comfortable and that she'd be back soon before she hurried off, giving the couple some privacy and the chance to take a closer look at the guestroom they had been put in.

"Well, that's nice", Pat commented, sitting down on the bed and bouncing a few times to check the mattress, "they really went out of their way to make us comfy here."

"Lucky for us, apparently those who don't care for us being here didn't have a say about where to put us", Willow smirked, sitting down next to her, her smile widening when immediately, the taller woman put one arm around her, "or who knows where we might have ended up."

"In some sort of cave, perhaps", the demon chuckled, making her lover giggle as well, "or outside in a tent. So the birds can crap on it and the wolves can take a piss against it."

"Don't be vulgar", Willow giggled, "but yeah, you're probably right. Just imagine if that huge guy had chosen where we'd stay."

"Huh, that bloke", Pat frowned, her dislike for said man clearly showing on her face and through her voice, "I don't think I've ever seen such a big guy before. I wonder what he shifts into, and why he's so rude."

"Well, he's not a wolf, Derek said so", the witch reminded her, "probably something bigger. Let's hope that, if we find out, it won't be because he's shifting to eat us."

"I could take him", the taller woman confidently replied, "I bet because he's big, he's also quite slow. So if you're fast and agile, you can tire him out and then, wham-bam, thank you man."

"Let's hope we never have to find out", Willow gave back with a strict look at her partner, "so don't you dare to pick a fight with him."

"Pick a fight, me?" Pat wanted to know, raising her hands and, for a few moments, looking so perfectly innocent that the only thing missing was the halo, "as if I'd ever do such a thing."

"What an outrageous thought", the redhead rolled her eyes, earning a throaty chuckle in reply; the two beamed at each other for another moment, then Willow pulled her partner closer for a loving kiss, smiling at her as they pulled apart again, her smile only widening when the taller woman reached up with one hand to tenderly caress her cheek, prompting her to lean into the gentle touch.

"I'll be at my best behaviour", the demon promised her, smirking slightly again, "we're here to help, not to mess with them."

"Good to know", Willow giggled, "and now kiss me again, I want to get in some smoochie time before Derek comes to pick us up for this meeting."

"Oh, I'm always in for that", Pat reassured her, then leaned in to kiss her; and immediately, she responded to the kiss, wrapping both arms around her lover and holding her as close as possible, for a few wonderful minutes forgetting all about dangerous shapeshifter birds and the danger their friends were in as all she could focus on was the woman she loved.


	8. Chapter 8

"As you know", Derek started an hour later, with all the shapeshifters of the village having assembled in the village's biggest building, sitting on chairs and even on the ground and leaning against the walls, all eyes on him, "after the continued attacks of the birds, we agreed to find help from Friends of the Pack, and I went to Sunnydale to get them. Luckily, they agreed to aid us, and are here with us now, please make them feel welcome. My friends, and the Friends of the Pack, Pat Patterson and Dr Willow Rosenberg."

"I'm not a doctor yet", Willow whispered to him, making sure to keep her voice so low that no other shapeshifter would hear her; Derek just gave her a brief look to signal that he'd explain later, then focused on the other shapeshifters again, making note of who was applauding and smiling and who looked grim and annoyed.

"How are they going to help?" one of the grumpier looking ones called out, another one raising his voice before Derek had a chance to reply. "And what kind of doctor is she? We don't really need a vet here, you know?"

"Psychology", Willow was the one to answer that, figuring that, even though it wasn't fully true yet, it could be counted as a tiny white lie, since she would be a doctor of psychology in the not too distant future, "which I will use to figure out how those birds tick and how to convince them to stop attacking you. Oh, and computer sciences, but I'm not sure this will be of much use here."

"And your associate?" yet another shapeshifter called out, a scruffy looking man with a mess of red hair on his head and growing from his cheeks and chin, "is she a doctor, too?"

"No", Pat answered that one, smirking at the man, "I'm a demon. That good enough for you?"

"And how will you help?" yet another shifter cried, giving her a sceptical look, "what are your powers? There are many kinds of demons!"

In response, the demon looked at Derek to make sure that a demonstration would be okay; and the moment he nodded, her good eye flared up brightly red while flamed burst from all over her body, forcing Willow to take a step back so she wouldn't end up getting burned, the redhead hiding her amusement about how her lover was going all out to show off to those who didn't know her yet.

"She changes, too", he let the assembled shifters know, raising his voice to be heard over the crackle of the flames, the shapeshifters whispering in astonishment amongst each other as they all noticed that her clothes weren't burning, "like we do. Well, kind of. And she was leader of our pack for a short while, back in Sunnydale, after she defeated Valeriana, fighting for us even though she had no obligation to."

"We never would have solved the situation with her without them", a familiar voice added from the audience, a smile curling Willow's lips as she recognized the one who had spoken as Oliver, the man who shifted into a panther and had helped both Pat and her when they'd been hurt, "and now they offer their help again, with nothing to gain but our gratitude! Show them the respect they deserve!"

"They are still outsiders", the giant man who had more or less been introduced to them as Gregor snarled, coming to his feet as if to make sure they all remembered how tall he was, "and I still don't think it was necessary to bring them here!"

"We discussed this and made a decision", Derek gave back, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "and we acted accordingly. I know you and some of your friends don't like this, but it has been decided, so deal with it."

"How do we know they'll be useful?" Gregor grumbled in reply, glaring at the two women, both of them holding his gaze bravely, even though Willow felt a bit unsettled, not wanting to imagine how a fight between her lover and this bulk of a man might end, "she might be capable of fancy fire shows, but how do we know she fights well! And a doctor of psychology and this modern computer shit? How is that gonna help?"

"I thought you guys wanted our help", Pat hissed at Derek while the shapeshifters who had looked grumpy and unhappy from the start let out agreeing noises, her flames vanishing as the air had started to heat up quite a bit by now, the people in the first row sweating, "and now he wants to mess with us? What the Hell, man!"

"I didn't expect this", Derek whispered back, looking uneasily at the huge man, "he'd been shutting up about it by the time I left!"

"I demand that they prove their usefulness!" Gregor bellowed, clenching massive fists and raising them as his fellow unhappy shapeshifters cheered him on, "I challenge you, both of you!"

"Gregor!" Derek cried out, horrified, clearly not having expected that turn of events, "how dare you! They are our guests!"

"You should be ashamed!" Oliver added, his girlfriend Simone and Alexia nodding their agreement and glaring at him, "as I pointed out, they have nothing to gain from helping us, and this is how you treat them?!"

"Shut up, you", the other man snarled, returning the glares they were giving him, "I have the right to challenge them and you know it!"

Taking a step forward, Pat just opened her mouth to tell him to bring it on then, already clenching her fists – when Willow spoke up just a second before she could do so, her voice cold and controlled, betraying none of the emotions she might have felt.

"You want to challenge us?", she almost snarled, noticing from the corner of her eye how Pat shot her an impressed, but simultaneously worried look, a mix which was quite the feat to accomplish, "fine, then. Show me what you got."

Growling lowly in the back of his throat, but still impressively loud, Gregor took a step closer to the stage while the people all around him hurried to get out of the way, not sure what to expect, but not wanting to get caught in possible crossfire anyway; Pat had a moment to ask herself if they knew Willow was a witch, as well, then the redhead was already raising one hand, a strong gust of wind coming up out of nowhere, blowing her hair back and causing Derek to gulp audibly.

"Wind and fire", Gregor roared, clearly not as impressed as the Alpha, "am I supposed to be impressed by that?"

He took another step forward, and Willow's eyes narrowed – before she snapped "Thicken", making her partner smirk slightly as she knew exactly what this spell did, something Gregor learned as well a second later as the air in front of him suddenly seemed to become strangely solid, still transparent, but not allowing him to take another step.

"What is this!" he bellowed angrily, glaring at the witch; she took a moment to smile at him, then almost casually flicked her fingers at him – and he let out an unarticulated shout as something which felt like a giant invisible fist smashed into him and sent him flying, all the way to the back of the room, where the wall stopped him quite harshly.

And while he was still airborne, Pat was already moving, stunning the already shocked onlookers with her speed as she practically shot off the stage and after him, reaching him before he could even try to sit up and landing on his barrel-like chest with a daring leap, all the air getting knocked out of him with an audible "oooff" while one of her hands closed around his throat and the other pulled back for a punch, flames bursting from her fist again as she glared down on him.

"This was just a tiny fracture of the things my girlfriend can do", she snarled at him while he froze, wide-eyed now, clearly asking himself how he had ended up on the ground with his back and head aching and a pissed off demon on top of him, "and if you don't want to know the rest of what she's capable of, or what I can do, you better back off. _Now._"

For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to reply, maybe talk back and tell them he wasn't defeated yet; and then, someone in the crowd of onlookers started to laugh, and soon, the rest of them was laughing as well, Gregor's face reddening to an alarming shade of scarlet, but he kept his mouth shut, even though from the way his jaw muscles were working beneath his skin, Pat could tell this wasn't easy for him.

"Well, Gregor!" one of the shapeshifters called out, still laughing, while the demon let the flames vanish and got up from the downed man, "looks like they showed ya! Believe now that they can help?"

He just glared in reply, still gritting his teeth so hard that for a moment, Pat wondered if they would break; now even feeling a bit bad for him, she held her hand out to him in a gesture of reconciliation and support, not really surprised when he slapped it aside quite harshly and came to his feet on his own, glaring at Willow and her again before he stomped outside without another word, leaving them both behind to exchange concerned looks and ask themselves if maybe, they had made yet another enemy now.


	9. Chapter 9

"It was the right thing to do", Derek tried to calm them down quite some time later, sitting in Alexia's living room with them, the couple on the couch while Alexia and Derek had taken the comfortable arm chairs, "he challenged you, and you had to respond, or you would have been perceived as weak and unable to help us."

"But now he's even more against us than he was initially", Willow pointed out, "I wouldn't be surprised if he'd try to mess things up for us."

"He won't", Alexia was the one to answer that, shaking her head, "since you defeated him, you proved yourselves more powerful and capable than him. He'll accept that."

"You also said he'd accept us being here", the demon pointed out, trying hard to ignore her need for a cigarette, knowing that their host wouldn't like it if she smoked in the living room, "and he challenged us. Doesn't seem very accepting to me…"

"I know", Derek sighed, giving her an apologetic glance, "I wasn't actually expecting him to do that. I would have warned you otherwise."

"Well, thanks", Pat replied dryly, "but if you didn't expect him to challenge us, and he did, how can we be sure he won't try something else?"

"Just trust me on this", the young Alpha replied, shrugging when the black haired woman raised an eyebrow in reply; before she could come up with a snarky answer though, Willow spoke up, changing the topic rather effortlessly and keeping any further discussion about Gregor and his behaviour at bay.

"So", she started, making them all look at her, "why'd you tell them I'm a doctor? I'm not, not yet."

"Details", Derek shrugged her concern off, making her smile slightly, "and the reason is quite simple. For some strange reason I'm not quite sure about, a lot of us are really impressed by academic titles. So I figured, I'd tell them you're a doctor, even if you aren't yet, it'll help to gain you some respect."

"Unless they find out you lied", Willow pointed out, frowning slightly now, "then they'll surely lose any respect they might have for me."

"They won't find out unless you tell them", the young man shrugged, unperturbed, "and I doubt you will. So, I think we're—"

A high, scratchy shriek outside interrupted him, and he jumped, prompting the couple to do the same, Alexia flinching as well – before they, without a word of explanation, almost jumped up from their seats and ran to the window, peering out anxiously, prompting the witch and the demon to get up as well after a moment and join them.

"They're back", Derek muttered, trying to see as much as possible through the not all too big window, "this is the sound they make before they attack…"

"Not very smart, announcing their presence like that", Pat commented, standing on the tips of her toes to glance over the two shapeshifters and out the window, "they could just…"

She fell silent as she saw a large, bird-shaped shadow drift over the street outside, the shapeshifters who had been walking around there running for cover; and then, the bird dive-bombed one of them who had been too slow, smashing into the screaming man and slamming him down to the ground, a cloud of dust and feathers rising up and obscuring the view moments later.

"We gotta help him!" Derek called out, and while he still was talking, the witch and the demon already had started to move, heading for the door and almost bursting through it, the doors of the houses in view opening at the same time or seconds later as the other shapeshifters came hurrying outside to help.

Yet another drifting shadow on the road was the only warning they got, and only her centuries of experience as an assassin and fighter made it possible for Pat to react fast enough; seeing whom the bird was aiming for, she stopped her frantic run to the man who was under attack of the first Donnervogel, throwing herself sideways instead and tackling Willow out of the way, the bird's outstretched claws missing the redhead by mere inches while both women went down, the witch with a breathless yelp of surprise.

"Sorry", the demon apologized, already coming to her feet again and grabbing her partner around the waist to help her back up as well; the bird which had aimed for them had changed his or her target the moment the attack had missed, now going after another female shapeshifter, the woman running for cover as she screamed for help.

"I'll try to capture one of them", Willow let her know, already raising her hands as she tapped into her power, "try to keep them distracted so they won't figure out what I'm doing…"

Nodding, Pat just took a moment to figure out how to best accomplish that, then started moving, towards the bird still menacing the man on the ground; by now, his screams had turned into low groans, and his tries to fight his attacker off had been reduced to weak struggles, his eyes glazed over, the demon having a second to wonder if he even noticed that someone had come to help him – before she, with a loud, throaty growl, tackled the bird and threw him off the unfortunate man, having another moment to ask herself why no one else had tried to get the creature away from its victim, then having to focus on defending herself as the bird shrieked and slashed at her with sharp claws.

Somehow, she managed to jerk back before the talons could dig into her skin, the bird letting out another angry shriek at the failed attack; growling in response, part of Pat noticed that her opponent was a woman, a realization she only could focus on for a second, then she had to dodge yet another attack, not reacting fast enough this time though, a low grunt coming from her when the talons ripped across her right upper arm, tearing three deep gashes into the flesh.

With another shriek, this time one of triumph, the female bird flapped her wings, an evil glint in her beady eyes as she got ready for yet another hit; before she could try to attack the black haired woman again though, long, thick strips of earth and stone rose from the road and wrapped around her arms and legs, binding her at first and then pulling her down against the ground, a startled cry coming from her as she started to struggle.

"Save your breath", Pat told her with a smirk, trying to ignore the stinging pain in her arm where the Donnervogel had injured her, "that's magic, you can't break free with physical force."

She heard the second bird shriek behind her and turned to look at it, her good eye filling with a bright red glow as her gaze met his; for a few moments, they just looked at each other – and then the bird flapped his wings and took off, clearly having decided that he'd leave his companion behind for now, perhaps to get back with more of his kind later, and to avoid getting caught, as well.

"No!" the caught Donnervogel cried out, struggling harder against her bonds, "don't leave me here!"

She sounded so scared and panicked that, for a second, Pat almost felt sympathetic for her; then, her gaze fell on the man who had been attacked by her, on the deep gashes in his back and his thighs, and his weak groans reached her ears, and any sympathy she had felt was gone, her gaze cold as she looked at the trapped bird.

"We finally got one of them!" she heard a familiar voice call out, looking up yet again to spot Gregor, the large man moving closer with an expression of pure hatred on his face, "at last! Let's kill it!"

"No!" Willow snapped before anyone else could say something, glaring at the man, simultaneously making sure to not let her concentration slip, not wanting to imagine what the bird might do, should the bonds fail and she'd manage to free herself, "we captured her to question her, not to kill her!"

"Look what she did to Randolph!" Gregor bellowed in response, focusing all his anger at her and nearly making her take a step back at the raw hatred in his eyes, "and you want to tell me we can't kill her? They've wounded us before, and killed two of us, now we'll pay them back!"

"You will do no such thing", Derek nearly bellowed, prompting the giant man to glare at him now, Willow briefly feeling relieved that his attention had been removed from her, since now, she could focus fully on keeping up the binding spell, "you know we captured that bird to question her about the reason for the attacks, and this is what we will do! Maybe, when we are done, there will be peace again."

"There has to be vengeance", Gregor insisted, clearly not willing to back down, "blood for blood, an eye for an eye."

"You heard the Alpha", another member of the Pack now decided to add her opinion, giving the man a strict look, unimpressed by his size, "we will question her, and find out why they are even attacking us. Then we'll decide what to do with her."

"You're all insane", Gregor snapped after just staring at her for a few moments, "willing to speak to those… things!"

He shook his head as if to underline his words, then turned and stomped off; they all looked after him for a few seconds, then Derek spoke up again, gaining the attention of his Pack, managing to keep any annoyance about the large man's behaviour out of his voice when he told a few of them to get chains and ropes so they could secure the bird before Willow would undo the spell holding her down.

Nodding, a few of them hurried off to do as he had said, while Pat moved over to where her partner was standing, one look being enough to silently asked her if she was okay; holding her gaze, Willow nodded briefly, then glanced down on her arm, pointing out just as silently that she wasn't, the demon shrugging a moment later, ignoring the flash of pain this sent through her arm.

"Just a few scratches", she then told the smaller woman, prompting her to roll her eyes at once, by now well aware of the fact that Pat tended to downplay any injuries she took, "nothing serious. I'm more worried about Randolph over there."

"He'll be fine", Derek told her, making them both look at him, "we'll put him in the last available tank we have, and he'll be as good as new in a few days. I'm more worried about the safety of our… guest."

Nodding, the couple exchanged a worried look with him, then glanced over at the still bound bird, asking themselves how far Gregor might go with his desire for vengeance – and how many of the Pack actually agreed with him, putting their prisoner and anyone who spoke out for not killing her at risk until all of this had been resolved.


	10. Chapter 10

Half an hour later, the bird had been chained and tied up so securely that she barely could lift a finger, and had been locked up in Derek's cellar, in one of the sturdy cages there the Pack normally used for troublesome shapeshifters; after he had made sure that the Donnervogel couldn't escape, the Alpha had shooed almost all of them out, only permitting Pat, Willow and Alexia to stay.

Again, Gregor had grumbled about this, but had given in surprisingly quickly, after Derek had glared at him once and had let out a low growl; clearly, the giant man hadn't been in the mood to challenge the Alpha, despite how unhappy he might be with the decisions he had been made, glaring at the Pack's captive with malice in his eyes before he left the cellar with the rest of the Pack members who had gone down there to make sure the bird wouldn't try anything.

"So", Derek spoke up once the door had fallen close behind the leaving shapeshifters, "there we are. Never would have thought one of you would end up as our prisoner."

"I won't be here for long", the bird snarled in reply, in a voice which was quite unpleasing, scratchy and sounding like a mix of human speech and a bird's cry, "my Flock will free me, and will make you pay!"

"They can try", the Alpha gave back, his voice now cold as he stepped closer to the cage, still making sure though that the bird couldn't try to reach through the bars and grab him, "but for now, you are here, and you'll answer our questions."

"There aren't many", Willow threw in before the Donnervogel had a chance to say anything, moving closer as well while behind her, Pat leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze never leaving the bird, "and we don't mean you any harm. We just want some answers."

"You", the female bird snarled in reply, glaring at the witch, feathers rippling as they burst from her skin, making them all wonder if this was a sign for her anger, "you're the one who bound me!"

"Yes", Willow agreed, and a second later, the bird had thrown herself forward and against the bars of the cage, hard enough to cause an audible metallic clang; from the corner of her eye, the witch saw how her partner tensed up, then relaxed again as obviously, the cage was withstanding the attack of the Donnervogel.

"Magic", the bird hissed, glaring at the redhead as if she could make her drop dead by just looking at her angry enough, "that won't help you once my Flock comes to free me…"

"We had no choice", Derek now spoke up again, the bird's gaze immediately moving to him, with the same intense hatred, "you've been attacking us for no reason, injuring and killing members of our Pack, it is our right to know why you are doing this!"

"Don't try to act all innocent with me now", the bird snapped in reply, crossing her arms over her broad chest, "you know perfectly well what you did and why we are retaliating."

"No, we don't", Derek protested, both Willow and Pat glancing at him curiously, "we have no idea!"

"Lies", the bird snarled, and afterwards, silence filled the room for a few moments – until Willow cleared her throat and took another step closer to the cage, deciding to ignore the warning look Pat was giving her.

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot", she decided to try being reasonable, "how about we introduce each other to get started?"

This time, the bird didn't even bother to reply, but just kept looking balefully at her; a few more seconds ticked by, then the witch spoke up again, giving her best to sound kind as she did so.

"I'm Dr Willow Rosenberg", she told the captive, remembering Derek's little lie in the last second and figuring that she might as well stick to it while talking to the Donnervogel, "this is my partner, Pat, and this nice young man here is the Alpha of the Pack, Derek."

"You won't find out anything from me", the bird gave back, glaring balefully at her again, "not even my name. It won't matter to you anymore anyway once my Flock rescues me."

"There will be no need for a rescue if you just answer our questions", Willow gave back, smiling what she hoped was a calming and honest smile at her, "the Pack has no interest in fighting with you. They just want an end to the violence, so if you tell us why you attack them, we can find a solution and all of this can end."

"Why do you even care?" the Donnervogel wanted to know, now, for the first time since she had been locked up in the cage, not sounding hostile, but honestly interested, "you're not part of the Pack, are you? You're not like them. A human and… I'm not sure what the one-eyed one is."

For a moment, Willow asked herself how she had figured out that Pat wasn't human, if she had seen something during the short fight which had tipped her off, then shrugged it off, telling herself that it didn't really matter as she gave the woman another smile.

"Pat's a demon", she then told the captive, figuring that it would be best to be honest, "but have no fear, she's one of the good guys."

"Sure", the bird snorted in reply, her voice now full of contempt, prompting the demon to raise an eyebrow, "that's why the two of you are hanging with that murderous Pack. Because you are the good guys. And don't tell me to have no fear, she bleeds like the rest of you, and if we drop her like we did to some of you, she'll end the same way."

"Murderous?" Willow immediately latched onto that one small, but important word, deciding to ignore the bit about dropping Pat for now, not wanting to dwell on the dreadful images this had put into her mind, "did one of the Pack kill one of your… Flock?"

"We did no such thing!" Derek snapped before the bird had a chance to reply, some of his anger vanishing again though when the witch shot him a warning look, a silent signal to keep his mouth shut if he wanted her to get any answers from their captive.

"You haven't answered my question", the bird now pointed out, making them all look at her again, "why do you care? You're not of the Pack."

"We're Friends of the Pack", Pat spoke up for the first time since the interrogation had started, "and when they asked for our help, explaining that they were attacked by you guys for no reason, of course we agreed to help them."

"For no reason", the Donnervogel echoed, glaring at the demon, "if you knew why we are attacking them, you surely wouldn't have agreed to help!"

"So tell us", Willow jumped at the chance, "maybe we really will reconsider then, and leave them to handle this on their own."

For a moment, the woman looked annoyed, realizing that she had allowed them to talk her right into a corner; then, she snorted, crossing her arms over her chest again as she glared at the redhead once more, her voice so cold that they all almost expected icicles to form on the cage bars as she replied.

"They killed one of us", she spat, and if looks could kill, Willow would have dropped dead, "murdered him in cold blood, one of our young males! They must be punished!"

"We did no such thing", Derek repeated, glaring back at the woman, his fists clenched, "as Alpha of the Pack, I would know about this, and we didn't even know your kind still existed until you started attacking us!"

"Lies!" the woman snarled, looking as if she wanted to throw herself against the bars of her cage again, "at first you murder one of us, and now you deny it!"

"How do you know one of this Pack murdered this young man?" Willow demanded to know before the situation could turn into a full-blown screaming match, "did you see them? Can you identify them?"

"It was one of yours", the woman gave back, looking at her coldly, her gaze moving on to Derek moments later, "we saw him leave our boy's body behind, but we were too late to save him, and the moment your Pack member spotted us, he dashed off into the woods."

"Was he in human form?" Pat wanted to know, frowning as she glanced at Derek, the young man still looking outraged, "or animal?"

"Animal, of course", the bird snarled, her hateful look focusing on her now, "and his size was more than enough to tell us he has to be one of yours."

"A wolf?" Derek asked, still sounding as if he didn't believe a word of this, only to pale drastically when the Donnervogel shook her head and replied. "Not a wolf. A bear."

"Derek?" Willow tried to gain his attention, having noticed his rather drastic reaction, "what is it? Do you know anything about this?"

"There's just one bear around here", Derek gave back, looking at her, the expression on his face that of a man who just had had all the air knocked out of him, "Gregor…"


	11. Chapter 11

"We can't confront him with this", Willow told Derek ten minutes later, upstairs and in the living room of the Alpha's house, "not as long as we don't have proof. He'll deny it, if he did it, and will just get even more aggressive."

"I know", Derek sighed, "but why would he do such a thing? And, as I said, he's the only bear I know of, and they are quite rare…"

"Maybe the birds know this, too", Pat suggested, "and that's why she said that. They might know you guys have only one bear here and that he's not all too happy with the whole situation."

"Could be", Willow nodded after thinking about this for a moment, "but… Well, I hate to say this, but it does make some weird kind of sense. Just remember how he immediately wanted to kill her, and how much he was against talking to her and finding out what is going on… He'd want that if he had something to hide. Something like killing one of them."

"Maybe", Derek had to admit, "but, as you said yourself, we can't just confront him about this without proof. We need to find some evidence or something first… And I doubt the birds will help with that. They just want vengeance."

"Well, at least we have some information now", Pat tried to make him see the positive side of the situation, "and she's talking to us, even though she'd still rip our throats out if she could. We got something to work with."

"Talking about ripping", Willow threw in before the Alpha had a chance to say anything, "what about your arm? That bird got you pretty good. You should demon out and heal that."

"I didn't have time yet", the taller woman shrugged, glancing down at her arm and at the deep gashes the bird's talon had torn into the flesh, "but yeah, you're right, I better take care of that."

With those words, she got up from the couch, then took a few steps back from it, not wanting to accidentally set it on fire; fascinated, Derek watched how she changed into her furrier form, how her muscles bulged and grew, her hair lengthening and thickening until it became fur, a bright red glow filling her good eye as flames burst from all over her body.

"How do you not set everything around you on fire when you do that?" Derek wanted to know, raising an eyebrow; shrugging, the demon smirked at him, exposing unsettlingly sharp teeth, the young man not looking all too perturbed though as he merely held her gaze.

"Dunno", she then told him, not really what he wanted to hear, since he had been hoping more for words like "control" and "discipline", "I just don't. Just like I don't set my clothes on fire when I flame up while in human form."

"She set the carpet on fire once", Willow not so helpfully supplied, earning a concerned look from the Alpha, "but she wasn't fully… focused back then. So no worries, she won't burn your house down."

"Good", Derek sighed, then fell silent as the fleshy noises which indicated the healing came up; curious, the Alpha got up from his seat and moved closer, making sure to not get too close to the flames, watching how the torn flesh and muscles knitted back together, the wounds soon gone, with not the smallest trace of them left.

"Works quite like our healing", he then let her know, stepping back as she started returning to her human form, "except ours isn't quite as fast. And our change seems to put a bit more strain on us than yours. Does yours hurt?"

"No", the demon gave back, having finished the transformation back to what Willow called her "more handsome form", "unless I'm really banged up, then it makes the injuries hurt more before they start to heal."

"Same here", Derek nodded while momentarily, Willow felt a bit left out, having no way to relate to their talk, "it can get really annoying. But, back to the topic at hand, I'm still not sure if we shouldn't confront Gregor about what the bird said."

"Not without proof", Willow shook her at once, glad that now, she could join the talk again while Pat sat down next to her once more and briefly made her smile by placing one hand on her upper leg, "he'll just deny it, and then it'll be his word against the bird's. And I have a feeling your Pack mates will be more inclined to believe him than the bird."

"That's true", Derek sighed, giving her an unhappy look, "but we have to do something with this knowledge. If only we had some evidence…"

"So you believe her?" Pat wanted to know, giving him a curious look, "has our favourite big guy done anything which makes you think he's capable of just randomly killing one of those birds?"

"He's a troublemaker", the Alpha sighed in reply, another unhappy look following his words, "aggressive and quick to anger, and fast to challenge people, as you surely noticed. He challenged me, too, when we came back from Sunnydale and announced that Valeriana is dead and that I'm new leader of the Pack."

"Why am I not surprised", the black haired woman mumbled, making Willow smile slightly at her before she glanced at the young man again, giving her best to sound convincing when she spoke up again.

"He may be a troublemaker, but that doesn't mean he's a murderer", she pointed out, both Derek and Pat having to admit that she was right, "and even if he did kill that bird, something we by the way still have no evidence for, maybe he didn't do it in cold blood. Maybe it was self-defence."

"Until they started attacking us here, in our home, we didn't even know they still exist", Derek reminded her in reply, "we all thought they'd gone extinct decades ago, if not centuries. So if Gregor ran into one of them, he surely would have told us, even if the bird had attacked him and he'd been forced to kill him."

"We need more information", Willow decided in reply, "from our… guest. But I'm not sure how to make her talk."

"A truth spell perhaps?" Pat suggested after a moment of pondering her lover's words, "like the one you used on me back then, you know when?"

Both Willow and she ignored the curious look Derek was shooting them, the witch thoughtfully holding her partner's gaze as she replied, her answer making the taller woman smirk slightly.

"It might work, if they react the same way to magic humans and demons do", the witch let them both know, "but if she refuses to talk then, even a truth spell might not help. It will only work if she does talk."

"Great", Pat sighed, "so it's back to square one, because I do have the feeling she won't tell us anything. If only to spite you guys."

"I'm afraid you're right", Derek grumbled, running one hand through his hair, "so what do we do now? We can't just keep her here if we know she won't tell us anything, but can we just let her go?"

"Yes", Willow answered that before Pat could, not sure what her partner would have to say, "as a sign of good will. Maybe that will convince them that not all of your Pack are murderers and liars, as they seem to believe now."

"Hrmph", Derek let out in reply, clearly not liking the thought, "fine, then. Let's go back downstairs then and tell her that, as a sign of our peaceful intentions, we'll let her go."

Nodding, Pat started to rise from the couch the moment he did, clearly not willing to let him go down there alone – and just when they both straightened up fully, a shadow briefly filled the room before something large and feathery slammed against the window, the glass shattering and flying everywhere seconds later.

"Oh shit!" Derek cried out as the bird landed in a heap on the floor, already struggling to get to his feet again, cawing viciously at them, "they're attacking!"

"The rescue mission", Pat gave back, grabbing Willow and making her squeal by shoving her behind the couch, not all too gentle, but effectively, making sure that at least for now, she was out of harm's way, "and this one's just the window opener, look, there are more!"

"Dammit", Derek cursed as he moved back, away from the window and the birds that were approaching, all of them ignoring the shouting and gesturing shapeshifters out on the street, focusing solely on the house in which one of their Flock was held captive, the way one of them had risked injury and broken bones by crashing through the window making it more than obvious how determined they were and how far they were willing to go.


	12. Chapter 12

When three more birds had forced their way in through the shattered window, Willow had been forced to realize that they were in deep trouble this time; clearly, the Flock had positioned more of their people outside to keep anyone from entering and helping, since any shapeshifter who tried to come to their aid ended up attacked by the Donnervögel and forced to retreat, leaving it to Derek, Pat and her to fend off the four which already had gotten into the house.

"We just were about to let her go!" Derek shouted in an attempt to be heard over the angry cawing and cries of the birds while the demon, with a daring dive, got behind the couch as well, ending up on the floor next to her partner and giving her a worried look.

"I'm not sure if we can handle four of them", she whispered, making sure to keep her voice low so the birds wouldn't hear, "if Derek can't get through to them and make them see we just wanted to let her go, we're in deep shit."

"Listen to me!" Derek hollered, diving out of the way when one of the birds swiped at him with her sharp talons, "there's no need to fight! We were right about to go downstairs and let her go when you attacked!"

To his dismay, the birds didn't react the slightest to his words, but merely attacked him again; he managed to duck one of the blows, then another one got him and threw him halfway across the room, until the wall stopped him rather harshly, a low, pained grunt coming from him at the impact.

"They're not listening", Pat had to realize, giving her lover another worried look, "we have to help him… If you can do any magic without endangering yourself, do it, but if not, stay here behind cover, alright?"

Nodding, Willow briefly grasped and squeezed her hand, a way of silently telling her to be careful; the demon held her gaze for another moment, then let go of her and, with one smooth movement the redhead just had to admire despite the serious situation, came to her feet and, using the couch as some sort of stepping stone, launched herself right into the fray with an audible growl, tackling the bird nearest to her and punching him in the face several times before he had a chance to react.

Then, the other birds realized that another fighter had joined their opponent, and two of them focused on her while the other two kept going after Derek, the young man by now bleeding from several deep gashes, not letting this slow him down though, giving as good as he was getting.

From her hiding place behind the couch, Willow peered over the backrest to see how the fight was going and if there was any chance for her to do magic without being spotted at once; to her relief, none of the birds was even glancing in her directions, the one her partner had tackled a minute ago on the ground, dazed, while the other four were focusing on the demon and the shapeshifter, either not even knowing that she was there, as well, or not caring.

Grumbling to herself since, thanks to the positions of the combatants, there wasn't really an opening for her to do any useful spells, the witch tried to keep her eyes on both Pat and Derek, eager to help them; she knew that she could do the vine spell to tie at least one of the birds down, but wasn't all too convinced that this would be helpful, and doubted that her concentration would be strong enough to hold all four of them in place at the same time.

Still, she kept the spell ready at the back of her mind, to be used the second she'd have a chance to, along with the Thicken spell and the energy blast she could use to throw people and objects across the room; she tensed up when she briefly thought that there was a chance to use her magic, then relaxed again as the small opening vanished when Pat moved to avoid a blow, making the redhead smirk slightly with her combat pragmatism by grabbing the small table she had bumped into during her manoeuvre and whacking one of the birds with it, making her squawk in outrage.

Snarling, the demon kept a tight grip on the table, ready to use it on the second bird attacking her; before she could do so though, the female one she had whacked just seconds ago recovered surprisingly fast from the attack, letting out another squawk as she threw herself against the taller woman, with enough force to make her lose her balance, the table falling from her grasp as she flailed wildly in an attempt to stay on her feet.

As she tried to keep from falling, the bird forced her further backward, towards the window; and just a second too late, Willow realized what the bird intended to do, firing the vine spell at her in the exact same instant she shoved her partner, a surprised yelp coming from the black haired woman as she stumbled out the opened window and slammed on the sidewalk outside.

Snarling, she hurriedly got to her feet again, before the bird could follow her outside and attack her with her unsettlingly sharp claws; she just had a moment to see the shadow fall on her and how it grew bigger as the bird who had been waiting outside lowered himself on her, then he was upon her and the claws dug into her shoulders, a pained yell coming from her as, with one powerful beat of his wings, he lifted her off the ground.

The moment she saw her partner's feet leave the ground and heard her cry out, Willow forgot all advices about being cautious and about staying in the relative safety behind the couch; without even fully realizing that she was doing it, she stopped the one bird who had noticed her leap over the piece of furniture and figured out her intentions dead in his tracks by thickening the air around him, ignoring his angry squawks as she hurriedly climbed out the window, her heart skipping a beat before it continued hammering so hard that it nearly hurt when she had to see how high up her partner already had been taken by the bird.

"He's going to drop her!" she heard one of the shapeshifters call out, dread filling her as the image of how Buffy had looked after just the same had been done to her came up in her mind's eye; for a moment, she almost allowed the panic which wanted to rise within her to take control, then forced it back down with almost all of her willpower, telling herself that it was bad enough to fail once, that she couldn't make the same mistake twice and allow yet another one of her loved ones to get hurt.

As if the bird had somehow realized her intentions, a loud screech came from above – and then the Donnervogel let go and Pat was falling, her screams mixing with those the shapeshifters all around were letting out as all they could do was watch how she plummeted towards the ground, all of them having seen the exact same thing happen to one or more of their Pack mates to know exactly how damaging the impact would be.


	13. Chapter 13

When the bird had picked her up and had started to fly straight up, Pat already had known where this would lead, finding herself unable to stop imagining how it would feel to slam down onto the sidewalk from God knew how many feet high; and when the bird finally did let go of her, all she could do was yell on top of her lungs as she fell, flailing wildly in useless attempts to grasp something other than empty air to hold on to and to stop her fall.

Morbidly, she had a few seconds to ask herself if she'd actually feel anything, or if the impact would knock her out quick enough to keep her nervous system from registering the pain of shattered bones and damaged organs; and then, with a great splash, she found herself landing in a pool of water instead of on the sidewalk, spluttering as she broke through the water's surface after the initial shock at this unexpected development.

"What the Fuck", she said the first and only thing which came to her mind, the way the shapeshifters around her were staring making it clear that they hadn't been aware of a pool of water right were their sidewalk had been moments ago either; and then, Willow was there, kneeling down next to her and asking her if she was alright while she grabbed her arms in an attempt to help her out of the pool.

"Mostly", the taller woman grumbled as she got out of the water with her partner's help, grimacing at the pain the rather simple movements brought up in her shoulders, where the bird's claws had dug in, "but where the Hell did that water come from?"

"That was me", the witch let her know, unable to keep a hint of pride out of her voice – and prompting her to wonder why she hadn't figured this out on her own, since magic was the only reasonable explanation for what had happened, "sorry about getting you all wet, but it was the only thing I could come up with… Except for a big pile of mattresses or feathers, like in a cartoon, and I wasn't sure this would work."

"Good thinking", Pat complimented her, clearly not minding the fact that she was soaked to the bone; then, her smirk vanished as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a completely ruined pack of cigarettes, looking at it in dismay for a moment before she shrugged and carelessly tossed it into the nearest trashcan, figuring that ruined cigarettes were to be preferred over ruined bones.

"Come on", she then stated, already starting to move back to the window again, having gotten over the shock of being picked up and then dropped surprisingly fast, "we better go and help out Derek, he's still all alone in there…"

"Actually, no", Willow let her know just as she reached the window and could peer inside, "while I did the sidewalk-to-water spell, a few of the others finally managed to get inside and help."

"About time", the demon grumbled, watching how three of the Pack now aided their Alpha in the battle against the birds, only to be forced to duck a moment later as one of the birds managed to disentangle herself from the fight and flew out the window, quickly rising and flying off into the distance before anyone could make a grab for her.

"And one got away", she commented as soon as she could be sure the bird wouldn't come back to attack, "maybe they are calling it off now that they have to face a fairer number of opponents."

"We better get away from the window then", Willow realized, already grasping her sleeve and pulling gently to get her to do just that, not daring to use too much force though, well aware of the fact that there still was blood seeping from the holes the bird's claws had left just below her shoulder blades, "the last thing we need now is one of those birds to smash into us."

"Good point", Pat had to admit, and just as she had gotten out of the way, two more birds came flying out, a third one following moments later, accompanied by the angry cawing of the fifth still inside the house, along with the sounds of struggling.

"Willow!" Derek called out before they had a chance to see what was going on, "we got him secured, you can undo the spell!"

"Spell…?" Willow frowned, momentarily confused, not able to remember doing any magic to bind or hold any of the birds; then, she realized that she had used the Thicken spell against one of them, slightly surprised about the fact that it was still up and apparently still holding the bird somehow, even though she only had intended to create a wall so he wouldn't stop her from going outside.

"Um, okay", she called out after a few moments of concentration, finding the spell and ending it, "all done!"

"Thanks", Derek's voice drifted out to them, briefly making her wonder why they had taken yet another one of the birds captive now, since it had been their plan to let the first one they had imprisoned go, anyway, then shrugged it off, figuring that the young man would tell them sooner or later.

"Come on", she thus suggested, grasping her partner's hand before she remembered her injuries and let go again, not wanting to accidentally hurt her even worse, "let's go back inside now and see what is going on."

"You know", Pat commented as they made their way to the front door together, not wanting to climb in through the window now that the fighting was over, "I can't believe that one bird actually threw me out the window just so her buddy can pick me up and drop me. They must be really keen on dropping people."

"Well, it must have always worked so far", the witch pointed out in reply, "cause usually, there aren't any witches around to turn the sidewalk into water whenever they drop someone."

"Good point", the demon had to agree, glancing back to the spot where she had landed, the spell having ended by now and the sidewalk was back to the way it had been before, only a few small puddles she had caused when she had splashed into the pool serving as evidence for what had happened, "and thanks for that, it would have ended really badly if you hadn't done that."

"I'm just glad I didn't mess up this time", Willow gave back, her gaze momentarily darkening; in response, the taller woman grasped her hand and squeezed it tenderly, simultaneously giving her a look which was enough to tell her that she shouldn't start about this again and that it hadn't been her fault, then bent down to kiss her tenderly, successfully keeping her from protesting and pushing those dark thoughts out of her mind, a slight smile on the redhead's face again as they made their way into the house together.


	14. Chapter 14

The first thing they noticed was the anger on the chained up bird's face, his small beady eyes full of hatred as he glared at Willow, clearly having identified her as the one who had bound him with magic in the first place; unfazed, the witch held his gaze for a few moments, then gave Derek a questioning look, the young man shrugging slightly in response before he turned to look at the bird again.

"As I was trying to say while you guys were fighting us", he patiently started, giving them both the feeling that it wasn't the first time he was trying to explain, "we were just about to let your flock mate go. There was no need to attack us, and surely no need to try to kill our friend here by dropping her."

"She's your friend, so that makes her our enemy", the bird gave back, briefly looking at the demon, with so much contempt in his eyes that it made her rise an eyebrow; she had a moment to ask herself if the fact that she was helping the Pack was enough to make her look at him like that, then he spoke on and answered the question without her even needing to ask. "And anyway, you should be glad we almost took her off your hands. In our Flock, we kill cripples like her."

"Watch your tongue", Willow told him, in that certain voice she only used when highly angered, somehow managing to sound both deadpan and full of barely held back rage, "or you'll lose it."

"I'm not afraid of you, witch", the Donnervogel spat while Derek looked at her in surprise, having never heard her use that particular tone before, "and just so you know, our Flock would make short work of the likes of you, as well."

"Not sure what exactly you are referring to", Willow dryly gave back, feeling how Pat placed a calming hand on her back, but not even glancing at her lover, "the fact that I'm Jewish, gay, or a witch?"

"Let us all keep our calm", Derek threw in before the bird could say anything in reply to that, "and I can assure you that our friend here is very capable at fighting. I've seen her fight, believe me, you don't want to end up standing against her. And the same goes for our redheaded witch, here."

"It doesn't matter, does it", the bird snarled in reply, "because even if I would best the cripple, her witch friend would find a way to stop me from taking my rightful kill."

"Nobody will kill anyone", the Alpha gave back, giving Willow a sharp look when she looked as if she wanted to reply something, "because, as I've been trying to say for the last _ten minutes, _we will let the two of you go. You and the member of your Flock we captured earlier."

"If you think that this will bring peace, you are mistaken", the Donnervogel snarled as an answer, making even Pat, not the most tactful person at the best of times, roll her good eye at his lack of diplomacy, "we will not stop until we got our vengeance. A life for a life."

"You've already taken three lives", Derek gave back, his voice now icy cold as well as he glared at the bird, "so why are you still attacking us?"

"One of us is worth ten of you", the bird spat, holding the Alpha's glare and matching it with the intensity of his own, "we will not stop until our desire for vengeance has been satisfied."

"This is not leading anywhere", Pat finally got in a few words as well, surprising the rest with how level-headed she seemed to be about the whole situation, especially after how the Donnervogel had spoken about her, "just let them go. If you keep holding them captive here, they'll just attack again, and it'll be a sign of good will to set them both free."

"You can take your good will and shove it", the Donnervogel spat, prompting the taller woman to give him a brief, but hard look – before she, after Derek had nodded his agreement to her words, turned and walked off without another word, Willow following her a second later, by now knowing her well enough to figure out that she wasn't as calm about the whole situation as she was acting.

Since she also knew though that, if she tried to make the demon talk about her emotions too early, she'd only cause her to lock her out even more, she remained quiet as she followed the taller woman to Alexia's house; there, Pat made her way to her travel bag and, still without saying a word, got out a new pack of cigarettes, moving to the window and opening it before she removed one of the cancer sticks from the package and lit it up, without bothering to use her lighter, the size and heat of the flame just another sign for how angry she was.

"Goddamned bird", she finally snarled, still standing with her back to the witch as she glared out of the window, with enough ferocity to make any shapeshifter who happened to glance her way look away again quickly, "I swear, if I hadn't known it wouldn't lead anywhere, I would have strangled that bastard with my bare hands."

Figuring that now, it was save to approach her and to talk to her, Willow did just that, moving closer to her and placing one hand on her shoulder; the taller woman briefly glanced at her, then stared outside again, gritting her teeth so hard that her jaw muscles were clearly visible beneath the skin.

"Don't let him get to you", the redhead advised her, even though she knew perfectly well that this was easier said than done, especially for someone with a temper as short as her partner's, "once we dealt with this, we'll never have to deal with those birds again, so what they think of you—"

"I don't care what he thinks of me", Pat interrupted her, causing her to fall silent in surprise, "they're some sort of warrior race, so of course they would have no use for a one-eyed person, even if that person can hold their own in a fight. It was the way he was talking about _you._"

"Oh", Willow gave back, not all too smart, but not knowing what else she could say; for a few moments, silence filled the room, then the demon turned to face her at last, looking a bit calmer when she went on.

"I know I tend to be overprotective of you", she let the redhead know, reaching up with her free hand to tenderly caress her cheek, "can't help that. Part of the girlfriend-demon-package. And the way he looked at you while he told you the Flock would make short work of you… He would have torn you to pieces without hesitation if he'd been given the chance."

"You're right", Willow had to admit after a moment of thinking back to the confrontation, remembering well how much hatred she had seen in the Donnervogel's dark and beady eyes when he had stared at her, "and he didn't get to explain why he dislikes me so much. I doubt it's just about us helping Derek and the Pack."

"Probably not", the demon grumbled, finishing her cigarette and putting it out on the heel of her boot before she pocketed the stub, not wanting to throw it out the window and litter the area around the house with it, "it's either the witch thing, because they obviously don't like magic, or the fact that we're together."

"Or a mix of both", the witch sighed, not liking the thought that her mere existence could inspire so much hatred, "that must be like the worst thing ever to them if they despise both witchcraft and gay people. How charming."

"Indeed", Pat agreed, momentarily looking angry again – before two triumphant shrieks could be heard from Derek's house, making them both flinch as they instinctively connected the sound to an attack by now, both of them relaxing again though moments later as they realized what it really had meant.

"They left", Willow was the one to say it out loud, "so Derek did set them free. Maybe it really will help to put an end to this."

"I doubt it", the demon clearly wasn't as optimistic, giving her another glum look, "don't ask me why, but I have the feeling that things will only get worse before everything gets better."

"Let's hope you're wrong", the redhead sighed, then moved closer to her partner and embraced her, once more unable to keep herself from thinking back to the moment the demon had fallen after the bird had let go of her, a shudder briefly running through her as she thought of what would have happened to her lover, had she not been able to come up with the spell, the horrible conviction that Pat was right and that everything would get much worse all too soon now rising within her as well, making her wonder what else the Pack might have to endure before the whole situation would be resolved.


	15. Chapter 15

An hour later, after those who had ended up wounded during the latest battle had changed forms to speed up the healing and Pat had flamed up to dry her clothing and hair, a bunch of the shapeshifters had met in Derek's house, among them Alexia, Oliver and Simone, to discuss how to go on, Gregor to the relief of both Willow and Pat not being part of the small gathering.

"So, they want vengeance", Oliver summed up what those who hadn't been there during the talk with the captured bird had been told, "for one of us killing one of them. And they claim a bear was the one who did the deed."

"Yeah", Derek nodded, "and we all know who's the only bear around here…"

"That would explain why he was so against getting help from anyone", Simone mused, giving the Alpha a thoughtful look, "he wouldn't want us to find out, of course…"

"If he did it, and they are not lying", Alexia reminded her of another small, but unimportant fact, "there's no proof he did it, right? We just have this one bird's word."

"They have no reason to make this up though", Willow pointed out, making them all look at her, "I mean, you guys told us that, until the attacks started, you didn't even know the Flock existed so close to you. And Giles said that they prefer to live in seclusion. So, why would they make up reasons to attack you now, if they didn't all these years?"

"Good point", Alexia had to admit, "but, as Derek already said, we can't just confront him as long as we have no proof… and I doubt that, even if the birds had any, they'd give it to us."

"Nope", Pat confirmed, taking a sip of the coke Derek had offered to all of them, "as they said, they're after vengeance. Vengeance's not justice, so they won't even be satisfied if you offer him to them."

"And we won't do that", Derek gave back at once, giving her a strict look, as if she already had suggested tying Gregor up and throwing him to the birds – instead of to the wolves, Willow noted with a hit of amusement, momentarily surprised her that her partner hadn't made a pun about this yet, "we don't even know yet if he did it, and even if he really killed this bird, maybe he had a good reason."

"Self-defence perhaps", Oliver threw in, playing with his own can of coke, prompting the Alpha to give him a worried look as it seemed as if he might drop it any second and spill the drink everywhere, "assuming for now that the bird's words are true. Maybe he stumbled into their territory and one of them attacked him, or they started fighting over a kill."

"Should we question him?" Alexia wondered out loud, for once not cheerful and bubbly, but rather serious, shrugging when they all glanced at her in surprise.

"We can tell him what the bird said", she went on, "see how he reacts, and then ask him some questions. It might be worth a shot, right?"

"Perhaps", Willow nodded after thinking about this for a moment, "if we can be sure that he won't freak and try to kill us all."

"He won't", Derek gave back at once, with so much conviction in his voice that they all believed him instantly, "he might be aggressive and loud and rash, but he's not mentally unstable. And it might be interesting to see how he reacts to those accusations…"

"Let's call him, then", Oliver suggested, clearly warming up to the idea, "right now, and let's see what he has to say about it. Willow, can you judge from his reaction if he'll tell the truth?"

"I can try", the witch shrugged in reply, "it'd be easier if I knew him better, so I'd have an idea about his tells whenever he lies, but it's not impossible to find out now, either."

"Alright, let's do it then", Derek nodded after considering her words for half a minute, already getting up from his seat, "let's hope he'll take my call, and will have time to come here."

"Doesn't he kinda have to make time, if you call him to come, as his Alpha?" Pat wanted to know, frowning; smirking slightly, the young man shrugged, picking up the phone, but not dialling the number yet, answering his friend's question first.

"I could", he let her know, "but I try not to play the Alpha card too often, especially not during daily business. I don't wanna be like Valeriana."

"Makes sense", the demon nodded, "nobody in their right mind would want to be like that crazy bitch."

Smirking, Derek nodded as well, then finally dialled Gregor's number; for a few moments, silence filled the room, then the Alpha started speaking, making it obvious to the rest that the call had been taken.

"Hi, Gregor, it's me, Derek", he greeted the man, his reply not audible to the rest of them, not even to the finer ears of the shapeshifters, thanks to the Alpha standing too far away from them, "there's something we gotta talk about, so could you drop by at my place?"

He fell silent again as Gregor replied, then only said "Okay, thanks", and hung up, nodding before he looked at the rest of the group again, letting them know that he'd be there in a few minutes.

"Let's see what he has to say about this", he then added, sitting down again and taking a sip of his drink before he spoke on, "and how he'll react to the accusations those birds made."

"I'm guessing he'll get all angry and grumpy", Pat smirked, making the young man smile slightly as well, "because that seems to be his default mood."

"He's an okay guy, most of the time", Oliver let her know, prompting her to raise an eyebrow, "being grumpy and rash is just his nature."

"Let's hope he won't be too grumpy and rash now", Willow muttered, giving her partner an uneasy glance, "just in case he reacts badly when we ask him about the accusations of the birds."

"We'll find out in a minute", Alexia let them know before anyone else could say anything, sitting closest to the window and having spotted Gregor's massive bulk moving towards the house, "because here he comes."

Half a minute later, the doorbell rang, and Derek went to let him in; when they both came back to the living room, Gregor raised an eyebrow at the group assembled there, not sounding all too friendly when he crossed massive arms over his chest and spoke up. "Quite the gathering, here. I suppose this isn't a social event?"

"No", Derek confirmed, gesturing at the only remaining free seat in the room while he moved back to his own, "sit down."

Even though he looked as if he didn't really want to, Gregor did as he had been told, looking from one member of the group to the next afterwards, both Willow and Pat noticing how his gaze darkened when he glanced at them, then he focused on Derek, managing to sound quite annoyed when he asked why he had been called here.

"Let me guess", he added, before anyone had the chance to actually answer him, "it has something to do with those birds."

"Yeah", Derek was the one to confirm it, the rest figuring that he should say it, being the Alpha of the Pack, "the bird we captured told us some quite interesting things, once we got her to talk."

"Did she", Gregor snarked, raising a shaggy eyebrow, "so what did she tell you? Must have been important if you called me here."

"It was", Derek confirmed, not liking his behaviour and showing this with a rather hard look, "she told us that they are attacking us because they want revenge. One of us killed one of them."

He briefly paused, making sure that Willow now was focusing fully on the large man; then, he took in a deep breath and went on, Gregor's eyes going wide at his next words. "She told us that the one who killed the member of their Flock was a bear. And we all know who's the only bear around here."

* * *

><p>"This is ridiculous!" Gregor bellowed after a few moments of silence, seconds during which Willow had taken a very close look at his face and body language, "I didn't kill any of them! I didn't even know that they exist until they started attacking us!"<p>

"There's no need to shout", Derek let him know in reply, giving him another hard look, "we didn't say anything about believing her. You have to admit that it's a quite serious accusation, and since they didn't attack us until this supposed murder happened, we have reason to believe that at least part of it is true."

"I didn't kill any of those birds", Gregor repeated, glaring at the Alpha, clenching his fists on the armrests of his chair and making the rest wonder if he was trying to restrain himself from attacking, "do they have any proof for those accusations?! Maybe they are just making it up to have a reason for attacking us!"

"I don't think so", Willow now spoke up, giving her best to sound reassuring and calming, not wanting to agitate the large man even further, "they told us that they want vengeance, and from how they are acting and attacking, I believe they told the truth."

"No one asked you, bitch", Gregor snapped in reply, making them all gasp as no one had expected him to show his dislike against the "outsiders", as he had called the couple, so openly, especially not after they had defeated him and Derek had made it clear to him that they were more than welcome in the village; while the shapeshifters just stared in surprise, Pat started growling lowly in the back of her throat, still loud enough though for all of them to hear.

"There's no need to insult our guests", Derek sharply told the large man, once he had gotten over his initial surprise at this unexpected behaviour, "they have done a lot to help us since they arrived here, and even if you don't want them here, you must honour that and treat them with respect."

"As Willow was saying, before you had your little outburst", Oliver was the one to speak up after Derek had fallen silent again, making Gregor look at him while Willow took the chance given by his diverted attention to place a calming hand on her partner's back, holding back the urge to grimace when she felt how tense the taller woman was, "their actions show us that their words are at least partly true. None of us knew that they even existed until they started attacking us, and they must have lived close to us for years, if not decades. So why attack us now, if not for vengeance?"

"How am I supposed to know", Gregor snarled in reply, glaring at him now, "I'm not one of those damned birds, am I. Maybe they just got bored, or maybe they want to have a bigger territory, and they know there's just one bear in this Pack, so of course they'd blame it on me, to cause suspicion and quarrels within the Pack and weaken us from the inside. Maybe they even work with those outsiders here!"

"Yeah, right", Pat dryly threw in, before Derek could start yelling at him for this new ridiculous idea, "that's why one of them was so quick to pick me up and drop me from a few dozen feet up. Because we work with them. Sure."

"They would have killed us both if we'd given them the chance", Willow added, keeping he hand on the taller woman's back in an attempt to keep her calm, not wanting her to attack the giant man, but knowing her well enough to be aware of the fact that this wasn't an unrealistic fear, especially not if he'd keep insulting her.

"Why are we even dignifying this with discussing it?" Simone wanted to know, shaking her head, "you know as well as we do that this is nonsense, Gregor. Don't try to change the topic by putting the blame on them."

"It's just as much nonsense to claim I murdered this bird", Gregor snapped as an answer, crossing his arms over his chest again, "as I said, I didn't even know these creatures existed before they started attacking us. Now, if there's nothing else you want to accuse me of, I'll leave, I have other things to take care of."

"Yeah, go", Derek gave back, realizing that it wouldn't lead anywhere to keep him there for longer; Gregor took the time to glare at each and everyone in the room once more, then got up from his seat and almost stormed off, slamming the front door close hard enough to make it rattle in the frame.

"So?" Derek wanted to know as soon as he could be sure that the large man was gone, looking at Willow, "what do you think?"

"Well, I don't know him well enough to be sure", the witch gave back, "but I'm quite sure he's hiding something. He reacted with too much outrage, he wasn't just angry about being accused of this. Maybe he didn't really kill the bird, but he knows something about it, and he wants to keep us from finding out. Which is why he made this clumsy try to shift the attention and blame to us."

"Let's hope he didn't mean that", Oliver gave back, concerned, while the Alpha nodded his agreement to her opinion, "he might cause some trouble for the two of you, should he start spreading that among those who aren't all too happy with outsiders being here."

"Well, the fact that those birds nearly killed Pat should be enough to convince them that this isn't true", Alexia shrugged, "I'm more worried about how little he respects them. Who knows what he might get into his head if this escalates any further."

"Just so you know", the demon grumbled at hearing this, "if he tries to do anything to Willow, I'll kill him. Friend of the Pack, alright, but if he touches my girlfriend, we'll get a new bear rug for our living room."

"You'd be well within your rights to avenge your mate, should he harm her", Oliver let her know, momentarily surprising her, since she had been quite sure that they'd try to talk her out of it, "but let's hope it won't come to that. Now that we know why the birds are attacking us, maybe we can figure out a way to make peace with them."

"I doubt it", Derek sighed, "they told us that they won't stop until they killed enough of us to satisfy their need for vengeance. I doubt they'd even stop if we gave Gregor to them, and that's not an option, not even if he really did kill that bird."

"There has to be something we can do to make them stop", Alexia mumbled, dismayed, "I mean, we can't just wait until—"

She never had the chance to finish her sentence, the shockingly large boulder crashing through the roof before she could say the last few words; and while the group was still crying out in shock as the rock smashed through the floor and into the cellar, the rest of the room's floor gave in beneath them and they all fell, darkness and dust engulfing them as they crashed to the cellar floor beneath the living room.


	16. Chapter 16

"Oh God", Derek groaned, his voice mixing with the shocked cries he could hear from the other shapeshifters outside, "what the… Is everyone alright?"

For a few moments, no response came, and dread started to fill him; then, he heard Alexia and Willow call out that they mostly were, followed by Pat confirming that she was still in one piece, as well, relief pushing the dread aside, only for that emotion to be shattered again as well seconds later when he heard Simone cry out, a wordless cry of pure anguish.

"No!" she then almost wailed, before he had a chance to call out to her and ask her what was wrong, if she was hurt; he had a second to wish for a flashlight or something else which would illuminate the rather dim room, then a clearly audible _foomph _came from his right, followed by the flickering light of fire filling the cellar room, the young man realizing with a bit of a delay that Pat had flamed up most of her upper body, giving them enough light to see what had happened.

"Oh God no", he breathed, hearing Willow gasp not far from him while Alexia let out an unarticulated noise of shock; and for a few moments, all Derek could do was just stare, as well, while his brain tried to register what his eyes were showing him.

A few feet away, Simone was clutching Oliver in a tight grip, crying into his hair; the unnatural angle his head hung down in and the blood on the workbench right beside them made it more than obvious what had happened, but still he found it almost impossible to believe, refusing to acknowledge that someone who had been a friend to him for years had been killed so easily and quickly.

"No", Simone now sobbed, forcing him to acknowledge that this was as real as it could get, "no, Oliver, please…"

"Hey!" someone cried from the edge of the jagged hole his living room had been swallowed up by, drowning out the sobs and pleas of the young woman, "are you guys alright down there? Hold on, we're getting a ladder right now to get you out!"

"Alright", Derek forced himself to answer, then moved over to where Simone was kneeling on the floor, crouching down next to her, Alexia joining him a moment later while behind him, Pat toned down her flames enough so she could help Willow to her feet without burning her, a quick glance telling her that, apart from a few scratches and bruises, the witch was alright.

"Simone", the Alpha distracted them from each other with his tries to gain the crying woman's attention, "come on, you have to let go of him…"

He reached out to touch her shoulder, and her head shot up a second before his fingers made contact, her eyes a bright yellow now, an audible growl in her voice when she snapped at him that he shouldn't touch her.

"This is all your fault!" she added when all he could do was stare at her in shock, not having expected this reaction at all, "if we had struck back faster, none of this would have happened!"

At a loss for words at this unexpected anger and hatred, all Derek could do was look back at her – so far, she had been one of those who had always voiced support for him whenever the question if they just shouldn't strike back had come up, and had supported his intentions to solve the whole situation peacefully.

"Simone", he started again, just to break the silence; she just gave him another glare in response, then gently lowered her dead lover down onto the ground before she stood up and turned her back on him, just as the shapeshifters started lowering a ladder into the cellar, once more calling out to them to warn them and make sure that nobody was right beneath it.

"Can't you do anything?" Alexia whispered while the ladder descended further, giving Willow a pleading look, her face falling when the witch shook her head in reply.

"I can't bring back the dead", she then mumbled, her voice trembling just enough to let the shapeshifter and her partner notice, "I could have tried to heal him, had he still been alive, but…"

The ladder interrupted her with a resounding _thunk _as it finally reached the floor; and without another word, Simone grabbed it and started climbing up, the rest exchanging worried looks before they followed her, meeting with the shapeshifters who had come to their rescue back up on the ground floor.

"What happened?" one of them wanted to know after having taken one look at Simone's face and having seen her expression, sounding alarmed; not even bothering to glance at him, Simone pushed past him and outside, leaving it to one of the others to answer his question.

"Oliver died", Derek was the one to do so, swallowing heavily, "he must have hit the workbench when we all fell, and he broke his neck…"

"Oh my God", another shapeshifter gasped, her eyes going wide, "poor Oliver… and poor Simone!"

"Yes", Derek agreed with a sigh, looking into the direction Simone had marched off in, "let's just hope she won't do something stupid now, they were really close… Did any of you see what exactly happened to my house?"

"A rock fell on it", Pat muttered, a bit startled by how fast he had changed the topic, shrugging when he threw her a dirty look, then he focused on one of the shapeshifters who had come to their rescue again, making one of them shrug, as well.

"The demon's right", he then told the Alpha, "a rock fell on your home. The birds dropped it. Apparently their changed their tactics now that picking people up and dropping them isn't working so well anymore, thanks to the doctor, so now they drop heavy things on our homes."

"And that works much better", Alexia grumbled, glaring at the hole said rock had torn into the living room floor, "they managed to kill another one of us… And that was still lucky, if that rock had landed further to the right, it would have squished Derek and me."

"I think they pushed things too far now", Willow commented, making them all look at her, "did you see the look on Simone's face? Not that I don't understand her, losing her lover like this…"

"It's horrible", Derek agreed, "but let's hope she won't do anything rash now, like going out and searching for them on her own, it'll only get her killed. Maybe I should—"

He never had the chance to tell them what he maybe should do; the loud blast of a horn interrupted him, and he flinched, his eyes widening moments later while Alexia let out a gasp, prompting both Pat and Willow to look at them in confusion, not having an idea about what was going on.

"What does that mean?" Willow finally asked when the two shapeshifters just kept looking at each other in shock, ignoring the confusion of their guests; for a few more moments, there was silence, then Derek finally looked at her, his voice strangely flat when he replied, only adding to their confusion. "Simone just did something rash."

* * *

><p>"The horn calls for an emergency meeting", Alexia explained in hushed tones as they all walked to the large assembly hall together, on the way there noticing that another house had been destroyed by a rock, as well, forcing them to ask themselves if anyone else had died there, "usually, only the Alpha has the right to use it, but in times of extreme danger, anyone is allowed to blow it…"<p>

"So what can she do now?" Pat wanted to know, "use this new tactic of the birds to challenge you?"

"She might try", Derek sighed, glancing unhappily at the assembly hall up ahead, "but she should know, even in her grief and rage, that she doesn't stand a chance in direct combat…"

"That might not stop her", the demon let him know, shrugging at the disbelieving look he shot her in reply, making Willow smile slightly with her next words, despite how serious the situation was. "If her pain is big enough, she won't care. I know I wouldn't."

"I keep telling you that you shouldn't always be reckless to protect or save me", Willow admonished, making the taller woman shrug yet again; the couple exchanged a brief smile, then grew serious again as they reached the assembly hall and made their way inside, some of the shapeshifters already assembled there throwing them dirty looks, but none of them telling them that they were outsiders and that they had to leave, not even Gregor, even though he looked as if he wanted to.

"Um", Willow started as she glanced around, noticing that most seats were taken already, "should we sit down here, or up on that little stage with you again?"

"Up on stage", Derek replied at once, already making his way there while Alexia moved to one of the few free seats and took it, "you're guests here, so you have the right to sit there."

Even though she wasn't sure that this was a good idea, Willow nodded after a moment, following Derek as he made his way to the stage and up the few steps; and while he moved to the podium, she sat down with her partner by her side, feeling nervous as she glanced at the assembled shapeshifters and noticed that the number of those looking at her partner and her with hostility now had grown, compared to the ones not happy about their stay with them when they first had been up there.

"Silence!" the Alpha thundered a minute after the last attending shapeshifter had entered and the door had closed behind the woman, making all the chatting and discussing men and women fall quiet, "we have all been summoned here by the call of the horn, so let us hear what the one who blew it has to say. Simone?"

In response, Simone got up from her seat in the first row and made her way on stage, refusing to look at Derek, not even glancing at him when he moved aside to give her his place at the podium; she stopped in front of it, gripping the wooden edges tight enough to make her knuckles stand out white against her skin, the silence filling with tension as they all looked at her and waited for her to say something.

"They killed my mate today", she finally did so, making those who hadn't heard about it yet gasp, some of them exchanging startled looks, "they dropped a rock on Derek's house when we all there and they killed Oliver."

She fell silent and swallowed heavily, giving those close enough to her the chance to see that she was fighting back tears; when she spoke up again though, her voice was calm and firm, not even a hint of emotion in it, only her tightening grip on the podium betraying her to those who were close enough to see.

"This has been going on for too long", she told the assembled shapeshifters, saying exactly what Derek had been fearing, "they have been attacking us, picking us off one by one at first by dropping us from the sky, and now they destroy our homes and endanger much more of us. It is time for us to stop our tries of making peace and to strike back."

To the dismay of Derek, Willow and Pat, sounds of agreement came from the shapeshifters at hearing that; they exchanged worried looks, slightly relieved to see that at least, more than half of them still looked sceptical, even though they realized how fast this might change when Simone spoke on.

"It is time to rid ourselves of this danger", she told the listening audience, looking at them one by one, "before they destroy even more of our homes, kill even more of us. I am carrying Oliver's child within me, and now, the child has to grow up without a father, and it is the fault of those birds! I demand vengeance, blood for blood, as our code states!"

"Blood for blood!" a chorus of voices went up in reply, mixed with "She's right!" and "This has been going on long enough!", Simone's grip on the podium relaxing a bit again as she realized that quite a few of the shapeshifters were on her side, and that she wasn't alone with her wish for vengeance.

"Ever since Valeriana was killed, Derek has been a good Alpha", she continued after another moment, "but in this matter, he has been too kind and too patient with those birds. It is time we take the fight to them. We must declare war on them and stop them before any more children lose their parents!"

"Take the fight to them!" a deep voice boomed over the general sounds of agreement which came up after this statement, none of the people on stage surprised to see that Gregor was the owner of said voice, "about damn time! This is war, and we must finally fight back!"

"How are you planning to do that?!" Derek raised his voice as well, to his relief at least still having enough authority to make them all fall silent at once, "we don't even know where they live! How do you plan to find them?"

"Easy", the large man replied, a confident smirk curling his lips – before his cold gaze settled on Willow, the redhead nearly flinching back at the contempt in his look, his next words making her eyes go wide. "The witch will help us find them. Or we'll kill her, and her partner."


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: Merry Christmas everyone :D

At least, Derek had time to reflect as a chorus of shocked cries went up, the members of his Pack weren't willing to go this far yet; Gregor seemed pretty much alone with his outlandish idea, but still the mere words had been enough to set Pat off, a low growl coming from her while the Alpha could practically smell her sudden aggression and anger, all of it directed at the large hairy man.

"Silence!" the young man snapped loudly after letting the rage for a minute or two, "this is outrageous! They are our guests, Gregor, this is not how the Pack treats its guests!"

"They haven't been much help yet, have they", Gregor demanded to know in reply, either not hearing the growls Pat still was letting out, or deciding to ignore them, "it's about time they do something useful!"

"Yes", the demon agreed in a dangerously low voice, but still loud enough so everyone could hear her, apparently not even noticing it how Willow placed a calming hand on her back, "it is, isn't it. Maybe I'll start by ripping out your throat."

"You're welcome to try", Gregor snarled as an answer, glaring up at her, "I'm not intimidated by your threats or your fancy fire tricks!"

"I won't need any fire tricks to kill you", the black haired woman spat, rising from her seat, ignoring the pleading look Willow was giving her while all Derek could do was stare, asking himself how things had started to go so wrong so fast, "after you dared to threaten my girlfriend, my bare hands will do just fine!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Derek finally regained his ability to speak, glaring at first at the demon, then at the large man, "we have no time for this! You can fight all you want if you must once this is over, but until then, we need to work together!"

"I've had enough of him", the demon snarled in reply, glaring at him now and almost causing him to step back when he saw that her good eye was glowing brightly red by now, a small sign for how pissed off she was, "ever since we came here, he has done nothing but agitating us, it's time to teach him a lesson."

"Please, not now", Derek still tried to reason, taking a step closer to her and raising both his hands in a gesture of reassurance and peace, "as I said, you can fight him all you want as soon as we solved this. I understand you and your anger, I really do, but…"

"If she wants to, let her fight me!" Gregor interrupted, glaring at her while, with an audible fleshy noise which made Willow grimace in disgust, his fingernails slid further out of his skin, sharpening and lengthening until they looked more like claws than human nails, making the witch wonder if this was a sign for how angry he was, just like her partner's glowing red eye and the smoke which now started to curl from her hands, "I'll beat her to a pulp, and then the witch will show us where those birds are hiding, and I will beat them, too!"

"If you fight her now, I'll expel you", Derek replied, his voice quite calm now as well, his words still making the shapeshifters gasp in unison, "we don't have time for this, and as I said, they are our guests. They—"

The large and thick tree trunk came smashing through the roof and slammed to the ground, shocked cries coming up all around him as several people had been unlucky enough to stand right beneath the point of impact; he still had a moment to think that obviously, he wasn't meant to finish any important sentences that day, then more logs came crushing down, the assembly hall holding up for a few more moments until the structural damage became too much for the building to bear and it collapsed, drowning out the cries of the shapeshifters as they were buried alive by wood and stone.

* * *

><p><em>Willow, <em>was the first thing which came to Pat's mind as she forced her good eye open, followed by the pain all over her body and the unpleasant sensation of dust filling her nostrils and making her cough, the coughing only causing the pain in her chest to increase; still she gave her best to ignore it as she turned her head, the world blurring around her, her heart skipping a beat when she couldn't see Willow at the spot she had been in when the hall had been attacked and destroyed.

Gritting her teeth against the raging pain, she forced herself to remain calm, knowing that panicking now would only make things worse; she could feel something hard and heavy across her chest, figuring that it had to be part of the assembly hall, telling herself that, if it were one of the trunks, it surely would have done more damage, most likely would have killed her.

As if that wasn't enough, she could feel something heavy across her legs, as well, pinning her to the ground and, in combination with the object on her chest, making her almost immobile; she could lift her head far enough to see that the latter was one of the ceiling beams which had been holding up the hall's roof, giving her a few moments of confidence that surely, she'd be able to push it off – before a large shadow fell on her and Gregor knelt down next to her, his facial expression unreadable as he glanced at her.

To her astonishment, he seemed almost unhurt, even though his bulk had made him such a large target for any falling trunks and building parts; a bit of blood was trickling down his cheek, and she could see bruises and cuts marring his upper body where his shirt had been torn, but apart from that, he appeared to be fine, his gaze clear and unwavering as he kept looking at her, without saying a word.

_It'd be the easiest thing in the world for him to kill me now, _the demon had to realize, her blood running cold all at once, _break my neck and claim it happened when the building broke down._

"Don't try to move", the large man rumbled after a few more seconds had passed in silence, "that beam got you pretty bad. Wait… This will hurt…"

She almost expected him to grasp her head and give the single fast jerk which would be enough to break her neck and kill her; instead, he took hold of the beam and, without any apparent strain, slowly lifted it, a pain-filled mixture of gasp and groan escaped her as the weight vanished from her chest and pain flared up in her rib cage.

"Don't move", Gregor repeated, giving her a strict look, "or you'll only make it worse." He waited a moment, as if to make sure that she was heeding him, then bent down again and removed the shorter, broken beam from where it had landed across her legs, looking at them critically afterwards, to her surprise even a hint of worry in his voice when he asked her if she could stand up or if anything had been broken.

"Willow", Pat croaked through a mouthful of blood in reply, causing her to morbidly wonder if one or more of her broken ribs had punctured her lung; that was immediately forgotten though when Gregor gave her a helpless look, for the first time not sounding annoyed or angry, but shockingly kind when he spoke up again, even touching her hand briefly in a rather helpless, but still oddly sweet gesture of comfort.

"She's not here", he let her know, "I checked, the spot where she was when it all went down is empty… I don't know where she is…"

"Thought it was you", the demon whispered in reply, not sure why she was telling him this, but finding herself unable to hold back the words, figuring that she owed him as much after he had come to her rescue, "thought you'd kill me."

"I know", the large shapeshifter simply replied, to her astonishment not even the slightest bit angry; she had a moment to wonder if maybe, he had gotten hit harder on the head than it had seemed at the first glance and had completely changed his personality, then he asked her again if she could get up, prompting her to nod after a moment of carefully moving her legs to make sure that none of the bones there had been broken.

"Good", Gregor muttered, crouching next to her, "let me help you then, come on…"

He grasped her beneath the armpits and, as carefully as possible, helped her to her feet; despite his tries to be gentle, she groaned in pain at the simple movements, her legs trembling when she finally stood upright, forcing her to grab the large man for support, briefly relieved when he put an arm around her waist to steady her, the feeling forgotten though moments later as she looked around and saw the damage.

The tree trunks which had been dropped on the hall had smashed it to pieces so completely that only a single wall was left standing, and even that was partly broken; and everywhere, men and women lay buried beneath the rubble, cries of pain and for help echoing through the day while the few who still were on their feet moved from person to person, trying to free them and find out how bad they all had been hurt.

"You better do your change thingy", Gregor advised her, distracting her from the damage which had been done to the Pack, "you won't be much help to us if you're all banged up."

Having to admit that he was right, the demon told him to step back in reply, taking the time to spit out another mouthful of blood before she focused on the change, gritting her teeth as it began, involuntarily clenching her fists as she felt her broken bones and damaged organs move and shift within her as they accommodated to her new built and form.

For a moment, the pain in her chest grew so intense that she was sure she'd end up toppling over, having a second to ask herself if and how this would affect her transformation; after all, she was only capable of changing when standing upright, for reasons unknown to her, and she never had tried to find out what would happen if she should end up on all fours during the process, immensely relieved when she managed to stay on her feet after all and the change finished, a low growl coming from her as she toned down her flames, not wanting to set the place on fire in addition to all the damage which had been done to it.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Gregor watching her with interest while the healing began; there was a dull ache deep in her chest which briefly increased, then vanished, making her think of punctured lungs again, followed by the soft sounds of bones knitting back together as her ribs healed and the bruises vanished from her skin.

"There", she growled a minute later, changing back to her human form the moment she could be sure it all had been healed, "now let's go and get the rest out. You're not hurt?"

"Not badly", Gregor gave back, already moving to the next member of the Pack, pinned beneath yet another ceiling beam, "don't worry about me."

Nodding, the demon gave him another brief glance, asking herself what had inspired this quick change of his attitude, then finally moved to help as well, in the back of her mind constantly asking herself where Willow was, if the birds had taken her – and what they might want from her if they had.


	18. Chapter 18

"They took a bunch of women", Derek told the demon quite some time later, as those who hadn't been hurt at all or at least not badly had assembled outside the ruined assembly hall, "I don't know why, or what they might want with them, but Simone is gone, Alexia… Sylvia, and Janet, and Kate…"

"And Willow", Pat added grimly, clenching her fists in helpless anger, "so now our only chance to find out where they are is gone, without her magic, we won't be able to find them…"

"There has to be some other way", a male shapeshifter she hadn't been introduced to so far threw in from her right, prompting her to look at him, "Derek, dammit, we are shapeshifters, we change into wolves and bears and panthers and what not, if we can't track them by smell, then who can?"

"A good point", Derek admitted, "but we don't have anything with enough of their smell on it to track them, do we? We'd need feathers, or blood…"

"We should check the tree trunks they threw on the assembly hall", Gregor suggested in response, shrugging when they all looked at him in surprise.

"What?" he then went on, sounding mildly annoyed now, "I'm not dumb, as you very well know, Derek! I do have my good ideas every now and then."

"I'll go check the trunks", Derek gave back as an answer, either not willing to discuss the number of good ideas Gregor had had or figuring that there were more important things to do; and the moment he was out of earshot, Pat turned to look at the giant man, raising an eyebrow as she spoke up.

"So what's going on with you?" she asked, rather bluntly, making him raise an eyebrow as well, "not even an hour ago, you were willing to kill both Willow and me for you little war against the birds. And now you act as if we're best friends."

"They destroyed our assembly hall", Gregor gave back, not sounding all too miffed by her words, "they must have seen us go in there and dropped the trunks when they thought they could hurt and kill as many as possible of us. Make no mistake, I still want to bring the fight to them and make them pay for what they did to us, but Derek was right – there's no time to focus on petty dislikes and disagreements now."

"Good point", the demon had to admit, digging through her pockets and finding a pack of cigarettes; she took a moment to light one of them up, not bothering to use a lighter since anyone who could see her knew about her nature and her powers, "and I'm glad to hear that, cause right now, my main concern is finding them before they do God knows what to Willow and the other women they took."

"Your concern for your mate honours you", Gregor let her know, this sudden stilted language prompting her to raise an eyebrow at him yet again, something he ignored though as he went on, "I have to say, I was quite impressed when I made the threat and you immediately were ready to kill me. Such devotion is not often found among the humans."

"Well, I'm not human", Pat pointed out, "and usually, my kind doesn't care all too much for humans… or develops these feelings for one of them. For her, I'd go through hell and back if I had to."

"Your bond is very strong, I noticed that", Gregor nodded, briefly reminding her of the time when the shapeshifters had been in Sunnydale and Alexia suddenly had stood in their bedroom, saying the same almost word for word – and then nearly making her choke by asking how often they were having sex. She had a dreadful moment to wonder if Gregor would do the same now, and to ask herself what she would do then, if she'd punch him before she'd regain her self-control; then he spoke up again, to her relief making no comment about their sex life.

"Let's hope this devotion will give you strength during the fight", the large man told her, watching how she put out her cigarette on the floor and then put the butt into her pocket, knowing the shapeshifters wouldn't like it if she just dropped it on the street, "because finally, Derek seems to agree that we need to hit them before they hit us."

"Derek does", the Alpha's voice came from behind him before Pat had a chance to reply anything, making them both jump, "if only to get our women out of there. And I think we might have a chance to find them."

Already while he had been talking, they both had been turning to look at him; and now, he smirked at them as he held up the feathers he had found, three of them, their differing colours and patterns showing that they were from three different birds.

"I found them stuck to the trunks", he explained, Gregor starting to grin in a rather malicious way while the demon just looked satisfied, "caught in branches they didn't bother to remove before dropping them on us. The smell's not all too strong, but it should do to find them, if all wolves work together."

"I have no doubt they will", Pat commented, making him nod; he looked at the feathers once more, then up at the two, clearly having made up his mind, his voice firm when he replied. "Yes, they will, and it's time we got moving. Find those who didn't get hurt too badly and tell them all to meet me here, then we will set off as fast as possible."

"Alright", Gregor grinned, rubbing his hands with glee, "now we're talking! Come on, let's go!"

Nodding, not quite sharing his enthusiasm, Pat came to her feet as well; she exchanged another look with Derek, making sure that he was determined about this and wouldn't change his mind at the last second, then set off to do what she had been asked, hoping that they'd find enough people fit enough for the attack and that the feathers really would lead them to where the women had been taken.

* * *

><p>When the assembly hall had started to break down, Willow's first thought had been her lover, her shriek unheard in the cacophony of falling wood and stone when she had seen how one of the ceiling beams had struck the taller woman down; and even though debris and building parts still had been falling all around her, she had tried to get to her partner, ignoring the danger, only to feel strong talons grasp her upper arms and lift her up with a powerful beat of equally strong wings.<p>

Again her screams had been unheard when the bird at first had carried her higher and higher, convincing her that he'd drop her and that she'd end up with broken bones on the sidewalk; then, she had seen that other birds had grabbed other women the same way, and were flying off with them, the one which had captured her following their example, snarling at her to be quiet as she kept crying out for help.

Finally, she had given up on shouting, forced to realize that by now, they were too high and too far now for anyone to hear her anyway; and thus, she just had hung limply in the bird's grasp, until they had arrived at their destination, some sort of small village high up on a nearby mountain, with crude wooden huts built into the stone, hidden from view and hard to access without the aid of wings.

To her dismay, the birds had flown her and the other women to one of the huts which was almost impossible to access without wings; and there, they had been dropped on the front porch and had spent the hours since then waiting for anyone to tell them what was going on, with the witch passing the time by using her magic to heal the wounded as much as she could and trying to calm them down, all the while giving her best to forget how dreadful it had looked when that beam had come down and had hit her partner, injuring her God knew how badly.

"I'm sure Pat will be fine", Alexia told her from where she was sitting with her back against the wall, making her flinch and nearly mess up the healing spell she had started to heal Simone's broken arm, the redhead taking a moment to regain her composure before she shot the other woman a questioning look.

"I can smell your worry", the brunette shrugged, "and even if I couldn't, it wouldn't be hard to guess that you're concerned. The bond between the two of you is still as strong as it was the day we first met."

"She'd do anything for you, wouldn't she", Simone threw in, before Willow had a chance to reply, "just like Oliver would have done anything for me. And then these things killed him, and now they took us, to do God knows what to us…"

"They won't do anything to us", another of the women gave back, the redhead remembering a moment later that her name was Kate, sounding quite confident, "the others will come here and get us out. Now that we've been snatched, Derek will have to take action."

"Yes", Simone agreed, "but how are they supposed to find us? Willow was our only hope, and now she's here, caught with the rest of us. Why did they take us, anyway?"

"I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later", the witch sighed, then gave the other woman a strict look to shut her up, telling her that she had to focus so she could do the spell; to her relief, Simone and the other women fell quiet and let her do her work, and a few minutes later, the broken bone had been mended, the redhead letting out an audible sigh as she let go of the other woman's arm, pearls of sweat glistening on her brow.

"Healing magic takes a lot of power", she said almost apologetically as she noticed the worried looks the others were giving her; before anyone of them could reply anything though, the door to their prison opened and two of the birds stood there, looking at them with cold, uncaring eyes.

"Finally", Simone snarled, clearly not all too disturbed by the glares of the birds, "are you gonna tell us now why you took us here?"

"We have our reasons", the taller of the two gave back, his scratchy voice sending shivers up and down Willow's spine, sounding so terribly inhuman and uncaring, "they are none of your concern."

"They damn well are", Alexia snapped, her cheerful and bubble personality gone as anger took over, "you kidnap us, take us here to this godforsaken place, and won't even tell us why?! What the Hell is wrong with you and your kind?"

"Be quiet", the bird told her, giving her a hard look, "we are not here for you. We are in need of the witch."

"And why would I do anything you want me to?" Willow demanded to know, crossing her arms over her chest and giving her best to hide how drained she was feeling, after doing so much healing magic for the injured women caught in this mess with her, "you killed some of my friends, you nearly killed my best friend, and you might have killed my lover, at least injured her."

"If you refuse to aid us, we will start dropping those women", the bird replied with an indifference which sent chills up and down her spine again, making her realize with dread why they had not just taken her, but the shapeshifters as well, "then their death will be on your hands, and we doubt that the Pack you seem to regard so highly will be understanding of your refusal and how it caused the death of so many of their women."

"You slick bastards", Simone snarled while the rest just stared, her eyes flashing up yellow and her canines lengthening visibly as her anger took control, "at first you kill my mate, robbing a child of its father, and now you threaten a friend of the Pack like this? I will rip you apart!"

"Be quiet", the bird told her as well, ruffling his feathers when she growled lowly in reply; not wanting any more bloodshed, and especially not wanting to endanger Simone's unborn child, Willow quickly came to her feet, giving her best to sound calm and steady when she asked the birds what they wanted her to do, ignoring the sound of disbelief Simone let out at her words.

"One of us got injured during battle", the smaller of the birds spoke up for the first time, somehow managing to sound a bit kinder than his companion, making her wonder if this was some sort of good cop / bad cop routine they were playing, "you will use your magic and heal him."

"I can't", Willow gave back, nearly flinching when the birds both glared at her angrily in response, "I just used much of my magic to heal my friends here. I need time to recover, then I can help your friend."

"You will help him now", the taller bird snarled, taking a step closer to her and glaring at her, looking as if he wanted to tear her up with his talons any moment, "or we will start dropping them. It is your choice, witch."

"You don't understand", the redhead tried to reason with them, even though the look in their eyes already told her it wouldn't lead anywhere, "there's… a darkness within me, and if you force me to use magic now, it will come out, I can't guarantee what will happen then!"

"We don't care for your lies", the smaller Donnervogel told her, briefly astonishing her by shifting his right wing into a perfectly human hand moments later with stunning ease, so he could grab her upper arm, "you will come with us now and heal him!"

"You're putting your friend and yourselves in great danger!" Willow almost pleaded as his companion flapped his wings once so he could rise from the ground and grasp her arms with his talons, "you don't know what I'm capable off if this darkness takes over!"

"Silence!" the bird shrieked at her, tightening his grip on her arms until she was sure it would leave bruises, maybe even puncture the skin; and then, he took off and flew out of the hut with her, to another one nearby, her heart racing in her chest as she tried to figure out how to get out of this without endangering any of the women captured there with her.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: Happy new year everybody!

* * *

><p>"Here he is", the bird told her as he dropped her to the floor rather unceremoniously, gesturing at the Donnervogel lying on a bed made of twigs and scraps of paper not far from her, absurdly, but fittingly reminding her of a bird's nest, "his leg got broken during our transport of the tree trunks. You will heal him now."<p>

"Please, I can't", Willow still tried to reason, even though she knew that it wouldn't lead anywhere, "just give me one hour to rest, then I will heal him, but if you force me now…"

"You will do it now", the smaller bird replied, making it obvious that they either were not believing her about the dark magic, or not caring; and she was quite sure that it was the first, figuring that these creatures didn't know much about magic, seeing how much they despised it, probably only forcing her to use hers now so she could help their comrade and make him fit for yet another attack on the shapeshifters.

_Do it, then, _a malicious voice whispered in the back of her mind while the taller bird pushed her over to the injured member of their Flock, _do it and let it drain you and then let the darkness take over, and teach them what magic really is. Make them pay for killing and hurting all those people, for hurting and maybe even killing your lover… _

And even though she tried so hard not to let it happen, the mental image of the ceiling beam striking her lover down came up in her mind's eye again, filling her with the cold, merciless anger she knew so well; none of the birds in the small hut noticed how she set her jaw in determination as she walked over to the nest and looked down on the injured bird lying there, darkness slowly filling her eyes and causing the Donnervogel to stare at her in shock and with a hint of fear, the emotions displayed on his face now only fuelling her anger at them.

"I told you, you shouldn't have tried to force me", she told the birds standing close behind her, turning to look at them, pleased to say that they reacted with surprise as well at her darkened gaze, "now it's woken up. And it needs to be used."

"Stop it at once", the taller bird squawked, now sounding quite worried; he took a step closer to her, and she raised her hand, not even having to say anything, a brief narrowing of her eyes being enough to thicken the air around him and make him immobile, not even allowing him any noise of distress.

"I call the shots now", she told him, his smaller companion looking as if he wanted to attack her, but not daring to, "and if you know what's good for you, you won't try anything stupid."

"Attack!" a scream echoed from the outside, making her wonder how they had realized so fast what she was doing in this hut, and what they thought they could do to stop her – she was so powerful now, beyond their wildest dreams, and she could kill them all with a snap of her fingers, flay them alive or maybe even incinerate them, as a brutal tribute to her loved one.

"They're coming!" the voice outside added, "they found us!"

For a few more moments, the darkness within her was so strong and prominent that she couldn't figure out what this meant; then, the realization hit her with almost physical force, and she let out a gasp, binding the second bird in the room almost casually as she rushed past him and to the door to peer outside, finding it hard to believe her eyes as she took in the scene in front of her.

Coming up the mountain with surprising skill and ease was what looked like most of the Pack, wolves and panthers and a lion, their howls and growls echoing through the day and telling of their bloodlust and willingness to fight; this alone would have been quite the stunning sight, but what made it almost impossible to believe was the formation at the very front.

Willow quickly recognized the large and shaggy wolf in the lead as Derek, his eyes glowing yellow as he ran up the steep mountainside, with such ease that it seemed as if he was running on flat terrain; at his right, an even bigger and shaggier bear was running along, just as skilfully and gracefully as the wolf, and on the bear, her lover sat, riding him the way other people rode horses, her hands almost vanishing in the thick fur as she held on to him, the large animal not appearing to be hindered by her weight the slightest.

"Oh Goddess", Willow whispered without even noticing it, the darkness forced back to where it had come from the same instant, overwhelmed by the joy and love which were filling the witch's soul at the sight of Pat alive and well, coming to her rescue with the other shapeshifters, a slightly malicious grin on her face as they kept approaching, the birds shrieking at each other in terror at being discovered and attacked at their very home, something they surely never would have thought possible.

"Fight them!" one of them at least regained enough of her senses to try and take over command, "don't let them get up to our homes! They want the witch and the women!"

"Damn right we do!", Pat yelled back, being the only one of the attacking group capable of speech at the moment, "so let them go now, and end this without any further bloodshed!"

"Attack!" the female Donnervogel cried in reply, and the birds did just that, having at least regained enough of their senses to listen to her; with a shriek in rather eerie unison, they all rose to the sky, giving the advancing shapeshifters a few precious seconds to stop their run and find more or less secure footing – before the birds dived down and at them, and the chaos of battle erupted all around.

* * *

><p>Now that the shapeshifters had chosen to fight and had gone to battle with the goal to rescue the captured women, they fought with new fervour and strength, as Willow quickly observed; whenever one of the birds tried to grasp one of them to pick up and drop, others quickly came to the aid of their Pack member, attacking the birds until they were forced to let go, without using their favourite strategy against their enemies.<p>

And even though she was the only one in human form, Pat fought with the same fervour, her fists now burning brightly, doing great damage to the feathers of the birds as she landed punches wherever she could; still, Willow noticed that, unlike the other members of the Pack, the demon wasn't remaining where the fight had started, but slowly moved towards her, their eyes meeting every now and then, giving her a chance to see the relief in the taller woman's gaze at finding her alive and well, despite the distance still between them.

Briefly, the redhead had to go through another moment of fear as one of the birds descended on her lover, moving to grab her and fly high in the sky with her; before the talons could dig into her shoulders though, the bear rose up behind the demon with a loud roar and, with one powerful swipe of a giant paw, took the bird down, allowing Pat to keep advancing, the attack of yet another Donnervogel easily blocked and then returned by her, sending the creature down the mountainside shrieking in pain as flames consumed his feathers.

"Please", the bird behind Willow now pleaded, distracting her from the fight and making her turn, his two companions still caught immobile in her spell, "stop them, don't let them kill us all, there are so few of us left!"

"You were willing to kill all of them when you dropped those trunks on the assembly hall", Willow reminded him, finding it hard to feel sympathy for him, knowing that he had been injured during just the attack she had mentioned, "you pushed things too far with that attack. I don't think I could stop them even if I wanted to."

"There has to be something we can do", the bird pleaded in response, shifting on his nest, "please! They will destroy our Flock!"

As if to underline his words, another bird shrieked loudly outside, a clear sound of pain and shock, and much closer than the rest of the fighting noises; and before they had died down, Pat had reached the hut, climbing inside and momentarily tensing up as she saw the birds there, only to relax when she realized that two were caught in a spell and the third was unable to get up from his nest.

Then, her gaze met Willow's yet again, without the distance and the battlefield between them this time; and all at once, all the rage and bloodlust was gone from her features, replaced by immense relief as the flames still burning on her hands vanished into nothingness and she closed the distance between the witch and her with two fast steps, pulling her into an embrace so tight that it almost was hard for the smaller woman to breathe.

"Thank God you're alright", she heard the demon whisper into her ear, an audible tremble in her voice, "I was so worried…"

Finally loosening her embrace a bit, she pulled back far enough so she could take the redhead's face into her hands, her touch tender and caring now, as it always was whenever she touched her; for a few moments, the two just looked at each other, then Pat bent down to kiss her lover rather passionately, neither of them caring about the birds or the sounds of fighting anymore as all they could focus on was each other.

"I'm perfectly fine", Willow told her after they managed to pull apart again at last, smiling slightly, "you guys came just in time, I was about to do some really bad mojo… Are you alright, too? I saw that beam hit you…"

"Fine and dandy", Pat reassured her at once, "it all healed up fine when I demoned out, as always."

"Surrender!" they heard several of the birds cry just as the demon said the last word, interrupting any reply Willow might have wanted to give, "we surrender! Stop the fighting!"

Slowly, the sounds of battle died down outside as the Pack accepted the surrender, retreating a few steps to give the birds room to land; and they did just that, the few of them which still were capable of flying and standing, most of them on the ground with varying degrees of injuries, groaning softly as they had to not only deal with their pain, but face defeat as well, all of them knowing that, with most of the Flock now down and out of the fight, the war was over and that the Pack had won.


	20. Chapter 20

"There will be no more attacks on your Pack or any friends of your Pack", the Donnervogel the Flock had chosen as their spokeswoman tiredly agreed an hour later, after they had been given permission to tend to their wounded before it had been time to talk about the peace they had to agree to now, "the death of our Flock mate has been thoroughly avenged, and we will steer clear of all of you from now on. In return, you will stay away from our home here and will never harm one of us again."

"Agreed", Derek gave back at once, eager to get done with this and return to the village so they could take care of their own wounded; he spat into his hand and held it out, and after a moment of looking disgusted, the bird did the same, the rest of Flock and Pack watching how they shook hands afterwards, sealing the agreement.

"Then get out now", the bird told them the moment they had let go of each other's hands again, "and never come back here again. We are done with you and your Pack."

"How charming", Pat rumbled under her breath, just loud enough to let her partner hear as she was standing right by her side; if some of the shapeshifters had heard her as well due to their exceptionally good hearing, they were remarkably good at hiding it, keeping up their poker faces and merely nodding when Derek turned to them and told them it was time to leave.

"Yo", Gregor said as he sidled up to the couple, smirking at them, still as surprisingly friendly as he had been ever since the attack on the assembly hall, "you two girls want a ride? We'll shift before we go back down, and you won't be able to keep up on your two feet."

"Hell yeah", Pat said before Willow had a chance to politely decline, then noticed the doubtful look on her girlfriend's face and smirked, giving her best to sound reassuring as she went on.

"Come on", she coaxed, while Gregor already started to undress and dropped down on all fours once he had gotten naked and had stowed his clothes in the bag they all had brought for just this purpose, hanging it around his neck, "it's fun, really. And he's broad enough so there's no real danger of falling off."

"Fine", Willow agreed while Gregor grumbled about the "broad enough" bit of the demon's words, "you won't give in until I agree to this anyway. But if I fall off and get hurt, it'll be your fault."

"You won't fall off", Pat reassured her, prompting the large bear Gregor by now had finished changing into to growl in agreement, "I'll make sure of that. Just sit in front of me and it'll be fine."

"Alright", the witch sighed, giving the bear another doubtful look, but then climbing on his back; Pat waited until she had found a position she felt was both comfortable and secure, then got on behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist while she grasped a fistful of the bear's fur with the other hand.

"I'm still not sure this—", Willow still had time to say, then Derek gave the signal to start the trek back to the village by letting out a short bark, followed by him running off, and Gregor took off as well, a squeal escaping the redhead at the unexpected speed of the large animal.

"Isn't this fun?" Pat asked behind her, tightening her hold around the smaller woman's waist in reply; for a moment, the witch wished that she could turn and look at her, then decided that it too dangerous, staring down on her hands digging into Gregor's fur instead as she replied. "Obviously, our ideas of fun differ!"

"Aw", the demon let out behind her, but didn't say anything else; instead, she just kept holding her tight, keeping her promise and making sure that she didn't fall off, not even when the bear started running even faster as the steep slope they were racing down made this quite easy for him.

"You'll so have to make this up to me", Willow brought out once she had gotten over the shock the sudden burst of speed had caused for her; behind her, Pat chuckled throatily, and without having to turn and look at her, the redhead immediately knew what sort of look her lover had on her face now, namely one which spoke of private time in the bedroom, one of the best ways to make anything up to her.

"I will", the taller woman now breathed into her ear, as if she had read those thoughts and wanted to confirm them; and the feeling of the demon's strong arm wrapped around her and her warm breath on her ear was enough to distract Willow from her fear as Gregor kept running along with the rest of the Pack, allowing her to relax considerably and to even enjoy the ride a bit, but she still felt glad when they finally reached the village again and all the shapeshifters came to a halt in the plaza at the centre, the redhead jumping off the bear the moment he had stopped, as well.

"See?" Pat smirked next to her as she got off the bear, too, "it wasn't so bad, was it?"

"It was scary", Willow immediately gave back, none of them paying much attention on the animals shifting back to humans all around them, by now having seen this often enough to not be impressed by it anymore, and not wanting to stare at the naked bodies of the shapeshifters, "as I said, you'll have to make that up to me. As soon as possible."

"No worries about that", the demon reassured her at once, moving closer to her and pulling her into an embrace, a content sigh escaping the redhead as she returned it and for a few moments just leaned her head against the taller woman's chest, listening to her heartbeat, "I will as soon as I get the chance."

"Looking forward to it", the witch gave back, making her partner smile slightly; and since the shifters were still busy with changing back, the couple took the chance given to exchange a tender and loving kiss, all tension of the last few days falling away from them as they focused on each other and the fact that they both were alive and well, despite how bad the chances for this had been just hours ago.

"I'm so glad these creatures didn't hurt you", Pat mumbled after the kiss, her hands coming to a gentle rest on the witch's back as she pulled her closer, "I don't know what I would have done to them if they'd harmed you by the time we finally arrived there."

"I was having quite similar thoughts", Willow let her know, smiling slightly, as always touched by how protective the demon was of her, "I saw that beam hit you just before they snatched me, so I had all kinds of dreadful thoughts about how badly you might have gotten hurt, even wondering if it could have killed you…"

"Not that I want to interrupt the two of you", Derek's voice came up before the taller woman had a chance to reply anything, "but there's still some stuff we need to discuss. We don't know yet who killed the bird and started this whole mess in the first place."

"Good point", Willow had to admit, momentarily shocked that she had forgotten this not so insignificant detail, then reminding herself of the fact that she'd been kidnapped by a hostile species of shapeshifters and had been quite concerned about her partner, figuring that it was alright to let such things slip her mind in such circumstances, "so how do we plan to find out?"

"Um", Gregor mumbled in response to that, to the surprise of everyone looking slightly sheepish now, even shuffling his feet, "there's not much to find out. I know who did it."


	21. Chapter 21

For almost a full minute, there was shocked silence as the shapeshifters, the witch and the demon processed what the large man just had said; and then, Derek let out an audible growl and, with stunning speed, moved up to Gregor and pushed him, managing to put enough strength into the shove to actually make the shaggy man stumble back a few steps.

"You _knew_?!" the Alpha bellowed, with a distinctive growl in his voice which made Pat raise an eyebrow, impressed, "all this time, you knew and you didn't tell us?!"

"I couldn't!" Gregor gave back, not making a move to defend himself, not even when Derek shoved him again and growled throatily at him, "I promised!"

"People were dying!" the younger man nearly shouted while the rest of the Pack started to mutter amongst each other, looking at the large man balefully, "they were killing us and you never said a word?! You could have ended this much sooner!"

"Um, I doubt that", Pat threw in before Gregor could try to defend himself, not sure why she was coming to the shaggy man's aid, remembering well how hostile he had been towards her and Willow, but also having to give him points for helping her back at the breakdown of the assembly hall and for letting her ride on him when they had set out to rescue the women the birds had kidnapped, "they said themselves that killing one of you guys isn't enough, and even if you had given them the one who did this, I doubt it would have sated their need for vengeance."

"Yes", Willow came to the large man's aid as well, prompting him to look at both of them in surprise, clearly not having expected the couple to defend him, "even if he had told you guys earlier what he has been hiding, it wouldn't have helped a bit."

"Fine", Derek growled, glaring at them as well now, "but I am his Alpha, and it was his duty to tell me anything he knows about this! By keeping it secret, he broke one of our Pack's laws, and I have the right to exile him for this, should I wish it!"

"Maybe you should let him explain first why he didn't tell you", Pat gave back, unimpressed by his anger and now even feeling pity for Gregor, since the taller man looked quite crestfallen at the thought of being exiled from the Pack, "and then decide if you really want to kick him out."

"I couldn't tell you", Gregor repeated before Derek had a chance to say what he thought about this suggestion, making the Alpha glare at him again, "I promised her I wouldn't…"

"Her?" Derek echoed, some of his anger evaporating, to the surprise and slight amusement of both Willow and Pat, "whom are you talking about?"

"I met her a while ago", Gregor mumbled, shuffling his feet as he now focused on the ground beneath them, "she's a bear, like me. But she made some pretty… bad experiences before meeting me, and she was reluctant to meet the rest of you guys… So I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about her."

"And the bird?" Derek demanded to know, frowning, not sure if he could believe this, "did she kill it? Why?"

"She didn't mean to", Gregor sighed, glancing up and at his Alpha again, "he came upon her just after she'd hunted, and demanded a share, claiming she had struck the deer in his territory… She refused, and he attacked her, and she killed him."

"You know you need to bring her here so this can be proven", Derek replied after pondering this for a moment, "if she's still not comfortable with meeting all of the Pack, she can meet just with me, for starters. But I must speak to her, as fast as possible."

"I'll bring her here", Gregor nodded at once, "right now, if you want me to, I know where to find her. Just promise you'll be kind to her, it took me a while to get her to trust me, and if we scare her, she might run away…"

"I'll be kind to her", the Alpha promised, to the large man's relief, "now go and get her, and bring her to Alexia's house."

"As you wish", the taller man gave back, bowing his head for a moment before he turned and hurried off; Derek looked after him for a few moments, then his glance moved on to Willow and Pat, a hint of surprise in his voice when he spoke on. "You know, the two of you were the last people I expected to help him."

"He helped me", Pat shrugged in response, finding her cigarettes and lighting one of them up before she went on, "and if what he said is true, he had every reason to keep this a secret. You said yourself bears are very rare among the shapeshifters, and if he found a female he hit it off with, he'll want to avoid losing her at all costs."

"Of course", Derek sighed, taking a step to the left since the smoke was moving in his direction, "but he still would have been obliged to tell me. If he brings this girl back and her story matches his, I still need to punish him some way or other for keeping this from me."

"You do know he could instruct her on what to say, right?" Willow wanted to know, frowning, "perhaps we should put a truth spell on her before you start talking to her."

"No need to", Derek gave back, smirking slightly now, "I should be able to smell it in case she lies. I know he was telling the truth, but that doesn't mean that she did, too, when she told him the story of how she killed the bird."

"Interesting", Pat commented, raising an eyebrow at the Alpha, "you can really smell if someone lies? Too bad you can't teach us, that ability would come in handy every and now then."

"One of the perks of being a shapeshifter", Derek shrugged, his smirk widening slightly, "but now you'll have to excuse me, I need to see our wounded and I figure the two of you want to get some rest as well."

"Oh yes, rest sounds like a good idea", Willow agreed at once, already grasping her partner's hand, "just get us in case you need anything from us, we'll be at Alexia's."

Nodding, Derek reassured them that he would, then hurried off to see who had been hurt during the battle and how bad those injuries were; and while he marched off, Willow started moving as well, the demon trotting along beside her, finishing her cigarette on the way to the house and again storing the butt in her pocket.

"Soooo", she then began as they entered Alexia's house together, momentarily relieved that the owner of said house was nowhere to be seen, not sure if they would have been able to handle her cheerful, bubbly nature after all the excitement of the last few hours, "how tired exactly are you?"

"Oh, quite tired", Willow gave back at once, already knowing where this leading and giving her best to hold back the smirk which wanted to curl her lips, already leading her partner to the guest bedroom Alexia had provided for them, "why do you ask?"

"Just curious", Pat let her know, kicking the bedroom door close behind herself, "and wondering if I could start making it up to you that I made you ride down a steep mountainside on the back of a bigass shaggy bear."

"Language", the witch admonished, not surprised to see a familiar lusty glint in her lover's good eye, "but you know what? That does sound like a great idea."

"Glad to hear", the demon smirked, then moved up to her partner and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply moments later, all thoughts of shapeshifters, bears and the stories they told forgotten just a few minutes later as they moved to the bed together, the black haired woman giving her very best to make up the ride on Gregor's back, with just the results she had been hoping for.

* * *

><p>"Thanks again for your help", Derek smiled early in the next morning, as they all set in Alexia's kitchen after breakfast, the Alpha staying with her until his house had been rebuilt, "you were a great aid to us in battle."<p>

"You're welcome", Pat gave back while Willow just smiled, even though both of them thought that they hadn't really done all that much, "we're glad your conflict with those birds has been resolved."

"So are we, believe me", Derek grimaced, "it's a tragedy that we lost quite a few of our Pack, but we will recover and prevail… Especially with our newest member."

"So she'll stay?" Willow wanted to know, surprised – she had seen the female bear Gregor had brought back from afar shortly before breakfast, when she had gone out to join her partner, who had been having her first cigarette of the day on the front porch, "I thought she didn't want to join the Pack?"

"She does now", the Alpha shrugged in response, "she wants to be with Gregor, and once she saw that we're not mean or evil or anything, she agreed to stay rather quickly. She'll live with Gregor, of course."

"So you'll soon have not only panther babies running around, but bear cubs, as well", Pat sniggered, making the young man grin and nod while Willow let out a small giggle, "lucky for you guys, and for our hairy giant friend, of course."

"Let's hope his temper will mellow now that he found a mate", Alexia threw in with a roll of her eyes, "at times, he's really been tedious to live with."

"I'm sure Sarah will manage to tame him", Derek smirked, "and make him a bit more friendly to the rest of the world. I have to apologize again for his behaviour towards the two of you, though."

"No need to", Pat reassured at him once, "he did help me after all when that beam had me pinned down, and he gave us that ride. Which was a lot of fun."

"No, it wasn't", Willow declined immediately, giving her lover a strict look, "so don't get the idea to ever do anything like this again, you hear?"

"Yes, dear", the taller woman replied with a melodramatic sigh, prompting the redhead to gape at her – before she started to giggle, Derek and Alexia joining her laughter a minute later, the demon just smirking slightly as she took another sip of her coffee, all of them glad that the conflict had been resolved and that the Pack was in no more danger from the Donnervogel Flock, even though both Willow and Pat knew that surely, the next challenge wouldn't take long to find them once they'd have made their return to Sunnydale.

End.


End file.
